Down to Earth; Community Perspectives on Health, Development, and the Environment

THIS VOLUME COMBINES a series of case studies that demonstrate the links between health, development and environmental issues within different sectors and countries with introductory overviews. The case studies make clear the complex linkages between environment, health and development and many also outline how new approaches can work in participatory ways with low-income communities so health, livelihoods and environmental management can be improved. The book is based largely on papers presented at the 1993 Conference of the US National Council for International Health and is divided into five parts. Part 1 considers the links between urbanization, health and environment and includes a chapter on innovative programmes for the urban poor in Cali (Colombia) which describes programmes for small-scale enterprises, recycling and housing and a chapter on a sanitation loan programme in Tegucigalpa (Honduras). Part II is on the implications for the environment of industrialization and has chapters on the post-Soviet legacy of industrial pollution in Armenia and assessing environmental health risks in Quito (Ecuador). Part III explores gender roles and includes chapters on improving access to family planning in rural Mali, bringing clean water to Kenyan households and the implications for women’s health of indoor air pollution in Sri Lanka. Part IV looks at grassroots activism and the search for environmental justice and includes chapters on fighting toxic waste dumping in Kentucky and on the destruction of indigenous lands. Part V considers how to create responsive institutions and includes a chapter on Primary Environmental Care and on controlling Chagas disease through community action in Bolivia. The book includes a list of “additional readings” for each chapter, the names and addresses of resource organizations and an index.