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War and other forms of armed conflict have profound adverse effects on population health. It is important to document these effects to inform the general public and policy makers about the consequences of armed conflict, provide services to meet the needs of affected populations, protect human rights and document violations of international humanitarian law, and help to prevent future armed conflict. Documentation can be accomplished with surveillance, epidemiological surveys, and rapid assessment. Challenges include inadequate or absent data systems, social breakdown, forced migration, reporting biases, and the fog of war. The adverse effects of the Iraq War on population health demonstrate how the effects of armed conflict on population health can be documented. We recommend the establishment of an independent mechanism, operated by the United Nations or a multilateral organization, to investigate and document the effects of armed conflict on population health.

The environmental and health consequences of climate change, which disproportionately affect low-income countries and poor people in high-income countries, profoundly affect human rights and social justice. Environmental consequences include increased temperature, excess precipitation in some areas and droughts in others, extreme weather events, and increased sea level. These consequences adversely affect agricultural production, access to safe water, and worker productivity, and, by inundating land or making land uninhabitable and uncultivatable, will force many people to become environmental refugees. Adverse health effects caused by climate change include heat-related disorders, vector-borne diseases, foodborne and waterborne diseases, respiratory and allergic disorders, malnutrition, collective violence, and mental health problems. These environmental and health consequences threaten civil and political rights and economic, social, and cultural rights, including rights to life, access to safe food and water, health, security, shelter, and culture. On a national or local level, those people who are most vulnerable to the adverse environmental and health consequences of climate change include poor people, members of minority groups, women, children, older people, people with chronic diseases and disabilities, those residing in areas with a high prevalence of climate-related diseases, and workers exposed to extreme heat or increased weather variability. On a global level, there is much inequity, with low-income countries, which produce the least greenhouse gases (GHGs), being more adversely affected by climate change than high-income countries, which produce substantially higher amounts of GHGs yet are less immediately affected. In addition, low-income countries have far less capability to adapt to climate change than high-income countries. Adaptation and mitigation measures to address climate change needed to protect human society must also be planned to protect human rights, promote social justice, and avoid creating new problems or exacerbating existing problems for vulnerable populations., (Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Nuclear weapons pose a particularly destructive threat. Prevention of the proliferation and use of nuclear weapons is urgently important to public health. "Horizontal" proliferation refers to nation-states or nonstate entities that do not have, but are acquiring, nuclear weapons or developing the capability and materials for producing them. "Vertical" proliferation refers to nation-states that do possess nuclear weapons and are increasing their stockpiles of these weapons, improving the technical sophistication or reliability of their weapons, or developing new weapons. Because nation-states or other entities that wish to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons need methods for delivering those weapons, proliferation of delivery mechanisms must also be prevented. Controlling proliferation--and ultimately abolishing nuclear weapons--involves national governments, intergovernmental organizations, nongovernmental and professional organizations, and society at large.

Child prostitution is a significant global problem that has yet to receive appropriate medical and public health attention. Worldwide, an estimated 1 million children are forced into prostitution every year and the total number of prostituted children could be as high as 10 million. Inadequate data exist on the health problems faced by prostituted children, who are at high risk of infectious disease, pregnancy, mental illness, substance abuse, and violence. Child prostitution, like other forms of child sexual abuse, is not only a cause of death and high morbidity in millions of children, but also a gross violation of their rights and dignity. In this article we estimate morbidity and mortality among prostituted children, and propose research strategies and interventions to mitigate such health consequences. Our estimates underscore the need for health professionals to collaborate with individuals and organisations that provide direct services to prostituted children. Health professionals can help efforts to prevent child prostitution through identifying contributing factors, recording the magnitude and health effects of the problem, and assisting children who have escaped prostitution. They can also help governments, UN agencies, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to implement policies, laws, and programmes to prevent child prostitution and mitigate its effects on children's health.

The future of occupational and environmental health will depend largely on involving all groups in society, thinking globally and acting locally, and developing the popular and political will to support it. It is necessary for professionals in the field to better understand important economic, technologic, sociocultural, and other trends, and to focus their energies on listening to those being served and assessing their needs, as well as educating, advocating, and building partnerships to address these needs. Values, visions, and leadership can have an extraordinary impact on the future of the environment and health.

1. Occupational health problems in developing countries are more widespread and serious because they occur against a background of endemic risk factors for ill health. 2. In general, developing countries have less adequately developed occupational health personnel and programs and less adequately developed and enforced laws and regulations than developed countries. 3. Awareness of the importance of occupational health among workers, management, government officials, and the public is increasing with developing countries. 4. Occupational health professionals in developed countries can contribute in many ways to improving occupational health in developing countries.