Environmental health is a branch of public health that deals with all aspects of the natural & built environment affecting human health.
It is also known as Environmental Public Health or Public Health Protection/Environmental Health Protection.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines Environmental Health as those aspects of the human health & disease that are determined by factors in the environment. It also refers to the theory & practice of assessing & controlling factors in the environment that can potentially affect health.
In this post, we take a look at the possibility of studying this course in Nigeria at the undergraduate level.
Environmental health professionals are also known as environmental health officers, public health inspectors, environmental health specialists, environmental health practitioners, or sanitarians.
BSc Environmental Health: General Overview
In different parts of the world, researchers & policy-makers play important roles in how environmental health is practised in the field.
In the United Kingdom, practitioners must have a graduate degree in environmental health & be certified & registered with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health or the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland]. While in Canada, practitioners in environmental health are required to obtain an approved bachelor’s degree in environmental health along with the national professional certificate, the Certificate in Public Health Inspection (Canada) CPHI(C).
In a country like the United States, the law requires that individuals have a bachelor’s degree & professional licenses in order to practice environmental health
Generally, there are 5 basic disciplines that contribute to the field of environmental health. These include:
- Environmental epidemiology,
- Toxicology,
- Exposure science,
- Environmental engineering &
- Environmental law.
Each of these disciplines contributes different information to describe problems & solutions in environmental health, but there is some overlap among them.
In Nigeria, the National Open University offers a BSc in Environmental Health. Typically, admission is into 200 Level only and candidates must possess a minimum of 5 credits in O’ levels with the compulsory courses required in O’levels being Mathematics, English Language, Biology or Health Science & Chemistry.
The other requirements include a National Diploma (Upper Credit) in the following
- Environmental Health Technician
- Science Laboratory Technology
- Pharmacy Technician
- Chemistry
- Biology
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Food Science & Technology
- Food Science & Nutrition
- Food Hygiene & Safety
- Public Health
- Microbiology
- Occupational Health & Safety
- Health Education
- Agricultural Sciences
- Environmental Management & Pollution Control
Or a Higher National Diploma with Pass in any of the following
- Environmental Health Tech
- Science Laboratory Technology
- Chemistry
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Biology
- Pharmacy Technician
- Food Science & Nutrition
- Food Science & Technology
- Food Hygiene & Safety
- Public Health
- Microbiology
- Occupational Health & Safety
- Health Education
- Agricultural Sciences
- Environmental Management & Pollution Control
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Animal Science
- Fisheries
- Biochemistry
- Geology
- Geophysics
- Botany
- Crop Science
- Environmental Management & Toxicology
- Forestry
- Pure & Applied Chemistry
- Pure & Applied Physics
- Soil Science
- Zoology
- Soil Science & Management
- Environmental Biology
Another option is a First Degree with minimum of Third Class in any of the following
- N.Sc Nursing Science
- Science Laboratory Technology
- Pharmacy
- Medical Laboratory Science
- Sc. Chemistry
- Sc. Environmental Health
- Sc. Biology
- Food Science & Nutrition
- Food Science & Technology
- Food Hygiene & Safety
- Public Health
- Microbiology
- Health Education
- Agricultural Sciences
- Physics
- Mathematics
- Animal Science
- Fisheries
- Biochemistry
- Geology
- Geophysics
- Botany
- Crop Science
- Environmental Management & Toxicology
- Forestry
- Pure & Applied Chemistry
- Pure & Applied Physics
- Soil Science
- Zoology
- Soil Science & L& Management
- Environmental Biology