Existing community health care provision, along with existing and traditional community health care practices will affect the environment. They may cause air, water, soil pollution and create solid waste. They may involve good or poor hygiene practices. They may improve health or inadvertently spread or exacerbate the disease.

Existing infrastructure and services will similarly impact the environment and the provision of health services/response – including roads/access, water supply, electricity, household heating/cooling, sanitation, waste management and disposal, and natural resource consumption patterns.

The existing environment will also impact health services and humanitarian health response including water resources, available nutrition,

Women and girls tend to be affected disproportionately by emergencies. Indeed, gender inequalities tend to be exacerbated, leading to increased dependence and exclusion. This can directly impact their capacity to access external assistance and restrict and/or influence individual coping mechanisms.

An inclusive healthcare system can facilitate access of persons with disabilities to health facilities and distribution sites, contribute to overcoming the barriers they may face, and ensure that their specific vulnerabilities and needs have been taken into account. Well-planned health interventions can act positively on the safety and well-being of populations and contribute to addressing some of the risks directly linked with health conditions in emergencies.

Air pollution
Soil pollution
Water pollution
Deforestation
Desertification
Eutrophication
Climate Change
Loss of biodiversity and ecosystems
Natural resource depletion

Potential benefits from behaviour change on:

• Environmental determinants of health include air, soil, water pollution
• Solid waste management and disease vectors
• Hygiene, sanitation, and disease transmission between people and between animals and people
• Mental health benefits of green spaces.

Negative impacts include:

• Failure to address harmful community behaviours
• Health service delivery vehicle emissions
• Solid waste from packaging, unused medicines, contraceptives, maternity kits, menstrual kits, etc.

Community health care provision can have negative and positive impacts on the environment.

Positive impacts include awareness-raising and behaviour change on the environmental determinants of health including air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, solid waste management, disease vectors, hygiene, sanitation, and disease transmission between people and between animals and people. They can also include the mental health benefits of positive recreational use and protection of the environment.

Negative impacts include failure to identify and address harmful community health, hygiene, and nutrition behaviours as well as the impacts of health service delivery itself, including vehicle emissions, solid waste from packaging, expired or unwanted disposed medicines, contraceptives, maternity kits, menstrual kits, etc.

• Map existing health behaviours and environmental dependencies
• Assess environmental impacts
• Awareness raising on health benefits of better environmental management
• Awareness and behaviour change on the environmental determinants of health including air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, solid waste management, disease vectors, hygiene, sanitation, and disease transmission
• Awareness-raising on health benefits of green spaces
• Assess environmental impacts of community health service delivery including vehicle emissions, solid waste from packaging, expired or unwanted disposed medicines, contraceptives, maternity kits, menstrual kits, etc.

Consult communities and assess and map existing health behaviours and environmental dependencies and impacts. Work out which of these behaviours/impacts are having a negative or positive impact on the environment. Plan activities to help the community improve their health through better environmental management. This includes awareness-raising and behaviour change on the environmental determinants of health including air pollution, soil pollution, water pollution, solid waste management, disease vectors, hygiene, sanitation, and disease transmission between people and between animals and people. They can also include the mental health benefits of positive recreational use and protection of the environment.

Assess the environmental impacts of community health service delivery, including failure to identify and address harmful community health, hygiene, and nutrition behaviours as well as the impacts of health service delivery itself, including vehicle emissions, solid waste from packaging, expired or unwanted disposed medicines, contraceptives, maternity kits, menstrual kits, etc.

Community health care provision and local traditional health care practices always affect the environment. They may cause air, water, soil pollution and create solid waste, and may unintentionally spread disease. Consulting communities and involving them in developing ways of reducing environmental impacts lead to less pollution and can lead to waste management livelihoods.

• The number of communities where the environmental impacts of community health behaviours have been assessed and mitigated.
• The number of communities whwere the environmental impacts of health service provision have been assessed and mitigated.

• Prevention of environmental damage
• Mitigation of environmental damage
• Environmental enhancement

Time, resources, and budget to assess community and health service provider behaviours, resources used, waste produced and waste treatment, and opportunities to reduce waste, pollution, and environmental degradation.