Relationship between Land Use/Land-Use Change and Human Health in Australia: A Scoping Study

Wildfire, deforestation and health in tropical rainforest areas: a scoping review protocol

INTRODUCTION

Wildfires and deforestation potentially have direct effects on multiple health outcomes as well as indirect consequences for climate change. Tropical rainforest areas are characterised by high rainfall, humidity and temperature, and they are predominantly found in low-income and middle-income countries. This study aims to synthesise the methods, data and health outcomes reported in scientific papers on wildfires and deforestation in these locations.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

We will carry out a scoping review according to the Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) manual for scoping reviews and the framework proposed by Arksey and O'Malley, and Levac et al. The search for articles was performed on 18 August 2023, in 16 electronic databases using Medical Subject Headings terms and adaptations for each database from database inception. The search for local studies will be complemented by the manual search in the list of references of the studies selected to compose this review. We screened studies written in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish. We included quantitative studies assessing any human disease outcome, hospitalisation and vital statistics in regions of tropical rainforest. We exclude qualitative studies and quantitative studies whose outcomes do not cover those of interest. The text screening was done by two independent reviewers. Subsequently, we will tabulate the data by the origin of the data source used, the methods and the main findings on health impacts of the extracted data. The results will provide descriptive statistics, along with visual representations in diagrams and tables, complemented by narrative summaries as detailed in the JBI guidelines.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

The study does not require an ethical review as it is meta-research and uses published, deidentified secondary data sources. The submission of results for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and presentation at scientific and policymakers' conferences is expected.

STUDY REGISTRATION

Open Science Framework (https://osf.io/pnqc7/).

The impact of indoor air pollution on children's health and well-being: the experts' consensus

BACKGROUND

Pollution of the indoor environment represents a concern for human health, mainly in case of prolonged exposure such as in the case of women, children, the elderly, and the chronically ill, who spend most of their time in closed environments.

MAIN BODY

The aim of the study is to organize a group of experts in order to evaluate the evidence and discuss the main risk factors concerning indoor air and the impact on human health as well as challenging factors regarding preventive strategies to reduce pollution. The experts highlighted the main risk factors concerning indoor air, including poor ventilation, climatic conditions, chemical substances, and socio-economic status. They discussed the impact on human health in terms of mortality and morbidity, as well as challenging factors regarding preventive strategies to reduce pollution.

CONCLUSION

The experts identified strategies that can be reinforced to reduce indoor pollution and prevent negative consequences on human health at national and local levels.

Analysis of the spatiotemporal changes in global land cover from 2001 to 2020

Land cover changes have far-reaching effects on climate change and the evolution of ecological environments, making them important components of global change research. Based on MODIS land cover data (MCD12Q1), statistical parameters such as land cover dynamic degree, transition probability, and transition matrix were employed to analyse the spatiotemporal characteristics of global land cover changes from 2001 to 2020. The results indicated that land cover exhibits a latitudinal distribution in mid-latitude regions and a longitudinal distribution in high and low-latitude regions. During the study period, the areas of evergreen needleleaf forests, deciduous needleleaf forests, deciduous broadleaf forests, closed shrublands, and permanent wetlands exhibited fluctuating changes. Evergreen broadleaf forests and barren lands have decreased annually, whereas mixed forests, woody savannas, grasslands, urban and built-up areas, and cropland/natural vegetation mosaics have increased annually. In terms of the dynamic degree, the most significant changes occurred in deciduous broadleaf forests, closed shrublands, permanent wetlands, and cropland/natural vegetation mosaics. Additionally, there were significant variations in the types and regions of land cover changes and transitions. Evergreen needleleaf forests transitioned into grassland types, and the conversion between grassland types was the main transition from mid- to high- latitude regions. In tropical areas, evergreen broadleaf forests, open shrublands, and croplands have shifted towards grassland types as primary transitions. These findings provide significant implications for the in-depth exploration of land-atmosphere interactions, climate change, and numerical models.

Messaging Should Reflect the Nuanced Relationship between Land Change and Zoonotic Disease Risk

A hallmark of the media publicity surrounding COVID-19 has been the message that land change causes zoonotic diseases to spill over from wild animals to humans. The secondary peer-reviewed literature sends a similar message. However, as indicated in the primary peer-reviewed literature, the complexity of interacting variables involved in zoonotic disease spillover makes it unlikely for such a claim to be universally applicable. The secondary peer-reviewed literature and the mainstream media also differ markedly from the primary peer-reviewed literature in their lack of nuance in messaging about the relationship between land change and spillover risk. We advocate accurate, nuanced messaging for the sake of the local communities at greatest risk from zoonotic disease, for the sake of scientific credibility, and so that proportionate attention may be given to other possible drivers of spillover risk.

An argument for pandemic risk management using a multidisciplinary One Health approach to governance: an Australian case study

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant global impact. However, COVID-19 is just one of several high-impact infectious diseases that emerged from wildlife and are linked to the human relationship with nature. The rate of emergence of new zoonoses (diseases of animal origin) is increasing, driven by human-induced environmental changes that threaten biodiversity on a global scale. This increase is directly linked to environmental drivers including biodiversity loss, climate change and unsustainable resource extraction. Australia is a biodiversity hotspot and is subject to sustained and significant environmental change, increasing the risk of it being a location for pandemic origin. Moreover, the global integration of markets means that consumption trends in Australia contributes to the risk of disease spill-over in our regional neighbours in Asia-Pacific, and beyond. Despite the clear causal link between anthropogenic pressures on the environment and increasing pandemic risks, Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, like most of the world, has centred largely on public health strategies, with a clear focus on reactive management. Yet, the span of expertise and evidence relevant to the governance of pandemic risk management is much wider than public health and epidemiology. It involves animal/wildlife health, biosecurity, conservation sciences, social sciences, behavioural psychology, law, policy and economic analyses to name just a few.

The authors are a team of multidisciplinary practitioners and researchers who have worked together to analyse, synthesise, and harmonise the links between pandemic risk management approaches and issues in different disciplines to provide a holistic overview of current practice, and conclude the need for reform in Australia. We discuss the adoption of a comprehensive and interdisciplinary ‘One Health’ approach to pandemic risk management in Australia. A key goal of the One Health approach is to be proactive in countering threats of emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses through a recognition of the interdependence between human, animal, and environmental health. Developing ways to implement a One Health approach to pandemic prevention would not only reduce the risk of future pandemics emerging in or entering Australia, but also provide a model for prevention strategies around the world.