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Lead Guest Editor:

Hoang Van Minh, PhD
Hanoi University of Public Health, Vietnam
hvm@huph.edu.vn

 

Additional Guest Editor:

Assoc. Professor Nguyen Lien Huong
Health Environment Management Agency, Ministry of Health, Hanoi, Vietnam

 

Overview

Vietnam has now been undergoing rapid development of industrialization and modernization, with many industrial zones and skyscrapers in various regions of the country. This development contributes to the employment, increased average income and increased GDP for the country. However, the urbanization, industrial development, rapid economic growth in the recent decades as well as the consequences of approximately 80 million liters of defoliants used by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, the country is currently facing with various modern and traditional Environmental health risks, such as soil, water, and air pollution. The pollution comes from various sources such as industrial pollution, craft village pollution, agricultural pollution, and domestic activities. Besides, the risks imposed on the environment and community health also come from healthcare wastes, ocean pollution, biodiversity depletion, and the excessive use of pesticides in agricultural activities. Vietnam is also one among the five countries which are most influenced by negative impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions (heatwaves, typhoon, storms, flood), sea-level rise, salinity intrusion, etc. Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases have been concurrently developed and present in the country, such as dengue, malaria, rabies, SARS, Zika, etc. In addition to that, the burden of non-communicable diseases which might have been caused by environmental problems also increases, such as cancer, pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, etc.

Although the Vietnamese Government has implemented various environmental health programs, including the water and sanitation programs, the access to safe drinking water and hygiene latrines is only moderate, and in some remote and mountainous areas, this access is even poor. Personal hygiene practices among communities, especially handwashing with soap were very poor in rural communities. Open defecation was still a problem, especially for ethnic minority groups. After several years of development by both the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ministry of Health, the National Environmental Health Action Plan was submitted to the Government but was rejected early 2012. Environmental health concerns have been raised but there is a lack of systematic and comprehensive policies on Environmental health. Consequently, Vietnam is tackling various Environmental health problems without a comprehensive and systematic plan. Ministries, including the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Construction and their departments at the local level have been implementing Environmental health-related activities as defined in their roles and responsibilities to protect the environment and human’s health. However, these activities are being implemented vertically and lack coordination across ministries and sectors. Importantly, there has been a weak collaboration between the health sector and the environment sector, which has resulted in less effectiveness of many programs and plans. In general, the recognition, control, and management of the environmental hazards that impact human health in the country face many challenges and are not integrated properly in socio-economic development policies, especially policies related to the community. Additionally, poor socio-economic conditions in different areas, especially the mountainous and remote areas, and limited resources also inhibit solutions for handling emerging Environmental health threats. Although universities in Vietnam offer environmental sciences, environmental technology, and environmental management training courses, the country is currently facing a shortage of skilled human resources with Environmental health expertise and training in this field is still at an early stage.

For the above-mentioned situations, reliable and more complete data on environmental health research and practice in Vietnam are urgently needed by those with responsibility for health planning and health decision-making as well as for society in general.

 

AIM OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTION

By publishing the special collection of papers “Environment Health Research and Practice in Vietnam”, we aim to provide update scientific evidence on various topics of environmental health research and practice in Vietnam for policy and intervention formulation process in Vietnam and similar setting in the world. This special collection of papers also shares research findings on various critical environmental health from Vietnam with the rest of the world.

 

SCOPE OF THE SPECIAL COLLECTION

We plan to include in this special collection scientific papers addressing the following topics:

• Epidemiology of environmental-related diseases in Vietnam

• Water and sanitation conditions in Vietnam

• Outdoor and indoor air quality in Vietnam

• Smoking status, especially secondhand smoke, in Vietnam and related factors

• Food safety problems in Vietnam

• Occupational health/industrial hygiene, including ergonomics of work environments in Vietnam

• Climate change health in Vietnam

• One health and eco-health issues in Vietnam

 

CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF RESEARCH PAPERS:

• Research papers addressing environmental health issues in Vietnam

• The first author resides in Vietnam

• Paper deemed acceptable based on a peer-review process

 

Please select “Environmental Health Research and Practice in Vietnam” from the Special Collection options when prompted during the submission process to indicate your interest in publishing in this Special Collection. The submitted manuscripts for this Special Collection will be peer-reviewed before publication.

 

Submit your paper.

Manuscript Deadline

January 30, 2020

An article processing charge may apply upon acceptance of your paper. Please see the submission guidelines for more information.

 

Lead Guest Editor:

Hoang Van Minh, PhD
Assoc. Prof. Minh is currently Vice-rector for research of the Hanoi University of Public Health. Director, Center for Population Health Sciences, Hanoi University of Public Health, Viet Nam. He is also the Editor-in-chief, Journal of Health and Development Studies. Assoc. Prof. Minh specializes in health research methods and public health. He has been leading a number of international and national health researches on various issues of public health in Vietnam. He has been working as consultants for research methods and health economics for different organization such as WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank, etc. He has more than 150 scientific articles published in international peer- reviewed journals.

 

Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/ehi/collections/special-collections/environmental-health-research-and-practice-vietnam