1. PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH IN MALAYSIA: A PRELIMINARY REVIEW.
- Author
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A. R., Haliza
- Subjects
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PUBLIC health , *ENVIRONMENTAL health , *ENVIRONMENTAL degradation , *ENVIRONMENTAL protection , *SUSTAINABLE development - Abstract
Introduction: Over the past three decades, Malaysia has achieved high economic growth, and the alteration and change of the physical environment in this country has been massive as well. In this crucial situation, sustainability of the environment often depends on the actions of public. Public must remain active participants in the processes of sustainable environment because the involvement of the public is a critical ingredient to curb environmental degradation. The public has the right (and duty) to stop and seek controls over such destructive development, and to ask the planners to modify their development strategies. For this reason, participation and involvement of public in environmental issues has been adopted as the national strategy for management and sustainable development of environmental resources in Malaysia. Objective: To highlight an awareness and understanding of the environmental knowledge amongst Malaysian public and to evaluate participation and involvement of Malaysian public in the environmental issues. Materials and method: Published papers from journals and books on environmental were searched and reviewed. Results: Many Malaysians were not aware of the environmental issues although they may feel vaguely uneasy. Most of the Malaysian public was also unaware of their rights, roles and responsibilities to sustain the environment. Public participation and involvement was also found to be low in environmental issues due to lack of knowledge, understanding and exposure. Discussion and conclusion: The citizen movements in many other countries have played major roles in the establishment of environmental damages. Degradation of the environment starts with people; therefore the solutions must also begin with the people. As an initial step the public must be alerted to the dangers inherent in the destruction of the environment which seems to have become a hallmark of development in our country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2008