Health and environment

Abstract

Due to the importance of the environmental control, we carried out a debate with the students of the specialty of Health Technologies in the municipality of Matanzas with the objective of forming an environmental awareness and inducing them to be defenders of the environmental protection, and also raising their knowledge on the environmental matters. Since the triumph of the Cuban revolution in 1959, environmental protection and rational use of the natural resources have been a national strategic objective. Inserted in the current difficult economic situation, the efforts for achieving the economic recuperation and environmental protection through an integral approach are an important challenge for Cubans. Rivers and brooks contamination by chemical substances has become one of the most serious environmental problems in our society. Ozone is a contaminant producing health affections. Forestal exploitation should be carried on the bases of warranting repopulation. Several factors determine a high growth of population in the underdeveloped countries. The concentration of population, industries and auto transport in urban areas has produced an ecological disequilibrium with serious damage of the environmental hygiene. Although Cuba is an underdeveloped country, the economic growth and industrialization have been led together with tenacious measures to protect the environment and a sustainable development. Risks due to natural phenomena or caused by human activity are tightly related with their nature. In all the cases it is necessary to pay an especial attention to the services and measures guarantying the population health.