Abstract
The intimate interdependence of human health and the ecosystems in which we are embedded is now a commonplace observation. For much of the history of public health, this was not so obvious. After over a century of focus on diseases, their biologic causes and the correction of exposures (clean water and air) and facilitation of responses (immunizations and nutrition), public health discourse shifted to embrace the concept of determinants of health as extending to social, economic and environmental realms. This moved the discourse and science of public health into an unprecedented level of complexity just as public concern about the environment heightened. To address multifactorial, dynamic impacts on health, a new paradigm was needed which would overcome the separation of humans and ecosystems. Ecosystem approaches to health arose in the 1990s from a rich background of intellectual ferment as Canada wrestled with diverse problems ranging from Great Lakes contamination to zoonotic diseases. Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) played a lead role in supporting an international community of scientists and scholars who advanced ecosystem approaches to health. These collective efforts have enabled a shift to a research paradigm that embraces transdisciplinarity, social justice, gender equity, multi-stakeholder participation and sustainability.
Résumé
Il est aujourd’hui courant d’observer l’interdépendance étroite entre la santé humaine et les écosystèmes où nous sommes enracinés. Pendant la plus grande partie de l’histoire de la santé publique, ce n’était pas si évident. Après plus d’un siècle d’attention aux maladies, à leurs causes biologiques, ainsi qu’aux moyens de corriger les risques auxquels nous étions exposés (en purifiant l’eau et l’air) et de faciliter les réponses appropriées (les vaccins, la nutrition), le discours de la santé publique a changé en adoptant le concept des déterminants de la santé, qui s’étendent aux domaines social, économique et environnemental. Ceci a amené le discours et la science de la santé publique à un niveau de complexité sans précédent au moment même où la préoccupation du public pour l’environnement augmentait. Pour aborder ces impacts multifactoriels et dynamiques sur la santé, il fallait un nouveau paradigme qui effacerait la séparation entre l’être humain et l’écosystème. Des approches écosystémiques de la santé sont nées du riche ferment intellectuel des années 1990, alors que le Canada était aux prises avec divers problèmes, de la contamination des Grands Lacs aux zoonoses. Le Centre de recherches pour le développement international (CRDI) du Canada a joué un rôle prépondérant en appuyant une communauté internationale de scientifiques et d’érudits qui ont fait avancer les approches écosystémiques de la santé. Ces efforts collectifs ont opéré un changement vers un paradigme de recherche qui englobe la transdisciplinarité, la justice sociale, l’équité entre les sexes, la participation de groupes à intérêts multiples et la durabilité.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Great Lakes Research Advisory Board. The Ecosystem Approach: Scope and Implications of an Ecosystem Approach to Transboundary Problems in the Great Lakes Basin. International Joint Commission, 1978.
Hancock T. Health, human development and the community ecosystem: Three ecological models. Health Promot Int. 1993;8(1):41–47.
Berkes F, Folke C, Colding J. Linking Social and Ecological Systems: Management Practices and Social Mechanisms for Building Resiliences. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Waltner-Toews D, Kay J. The evolution of an ecosystem approach: The diamond schematic and an adaptive methodology for ecosystem sustainability and health. Ecol So. 2005;10(1):38.
Rapport DJ, Costanza R, McMichael AJ. Assessing ecosystem health. Trends Ecol Evol. 1998;13(10):397–402.
Rapport DJ. Is it all about us? Ecosyst Health. 2000;6:169–70.
Forget G, Lebel J. An ecosystem approach to human health. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2001;7(Suppl 2):S3–S38.
Lalonde M. A new perspective on the health of Canadians. A working document. Minister of National Health and Welfare. Ottawa, ON: Government of Canada, 1974.
Waltner-Toews D, Kay J. An ecosystem approach to health. Leis. 2002;18(Suppl 1):15–16.
International Development Research Centre. Communities of Practice. Available at: http://www.idrc.ca (Accessed May 14, 2010).
Wilcox B, Aguirre A, Daszak P, Horwitz P, Martens P, Parkes M, et al. Eco-Health: A transdisciplinary imperative for a sustainable future. EcoHealth. 2004;1(1):3–5.
Waltner-Toews D. Food, global environmental change and health: EcoHealth to the rescue? McGill Med. 2009;12(1):85–89.
Lebel J. In Focus: Health–An Ecosystem Approach. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2003.
Lebel J, Roulet M, Mergler D, Lucotte M, Larribe F. Fish diet and mercury exposure in a Riparian Amazonian population. Water Air Soil Poll. 1997;97(1–2):31–44.
Pilgrim W, Eaton P, Trip L. The need for integrated linkages and long-term monitoring of mercury in Canada. Environ Monit Assess. 2001;67(1):57–68.
Charron D. Ecohealth Research in Practice: Experiences in Ecosystems Approaches to Health. Ottawa: International Development Research Centre (in press).
Spiegel J, Yassi A, Mas P, Tate R. Dengue in Cuba: Mobilization against Aedes aegypti. Lancet Infect Dis. 2002;2:207–8.
Spiegel J, Bonet M, Ibarra A, Pagliccia N, Ouellette V, Yassi A. Social and environmental determinants of Aedes aegypti infestation in Central Havana: Results of a case-control study nested in an integrated dengue surveillance program in Cuba. Trop Med Int Healt. 2007;12(4):503–10.
Bonet M, Spiegel J, Ibarra A, Kouri G, Pintre A, Yassi A. An integrated ecosystem approach for sustainable prevention and control of dengue in Central Havana. Int J Occup Environ Health. 2007;13(2):188–94.
Charron DF, Thomas MK, Waltner-Toews D, Aramini JJ, Edge T, Kent RA, et al. Vulnerability of waterborne diseases to climate change in Canada: A review. J Toxicol Environ Health. 2004;67(20):1667–77.
Parkes MW. Ecohealth and Aboriginal Health: A Review of Common Ground. Evidence review prepared for National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health. Prince George, BC: National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health (in press).
Parkes MW, Morrison KE, Bunch MJ, Hallström LK, Neudoerffer RC, Venema HD, et al. Towards integrated governance for water, health and social-ecological systems: The Watershed Governance Prism. Global Environ Chan. 2010;20(4):693–704.
Veterinarians without Borders/Vétérinaires sans Frontières. One Health for One World: A Compendium of Case Studies. Veterinarians without Borders / Vétérinaires sans Frontières, 2010:1–104.
Chatman House. Meeting Report: Shifting from Emergency Response to Prevention of Pandemic Disease Threats at Source. Available at: http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk (Accessed April 30, 2010).
Mertens F, Saint-Charles J, Mergler D, Passos CJ, Lucotte M. Network approach for analyzing and promoting equity in participatory ecohealth research. Eco Health. 2005;2:113–26.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Acknowledgements: The authors acknowledge collective funding support for the Canadian Community of Practice in Ecosystem Approaches to Health from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) with particular acknowledgement of the role that Dominique Charron and Andrés Sánchez have played in fostering the CoPEH-Canada.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Webb, J.C., Mergler, D., Parkes, M.W. et al. Tools for Thoughtful Action: The Role of Ecosystem Approaches to Health in Enhancing Public Health. Can J Public Health 101, 439–441 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403959
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03403959