Environmental Health is defined broadly as the area of science that deals with the interaction and the effects to human health, represents the environment in which people live. Accordingly, the main components of environmental health is an interdisciplinary, multi-causal, multi-conceptual, dynamic, and overlap one another in a dialectical relationship. Being aware of the complexity and scale demanded by their approach, they voted unanimously and intersectoral gradually addressing environmental health in Colombia. To encourage and facilitate the approach of the guidelines described herein shall be taken into account some of the many environmental factors whose disruption affects human health adversely, they include a priority the poor air quality, poor quality drinking water and inadequate management of chemicals (chemical safety) because it is considered that the above factors affected the environment deteriorates significantly and adversely affects the health of the population, especially vulnerable groups (children , pregnant women, elderly population and the population in extreme poverty.) These factors make the problems of high cost to the economy of the country, according to data provided in the diagnosis and study of costs of environmental degradation of the Country Environmental Analysis - AAP1.
It is estimated that the health burden attributable to environmental conditions in Colombia is 17% of the total health burden, causing about 46,000 deaths a year.
