The public health workforce requires sound knowledge and skills for anticipating and responding to public health risks, disasters and emergencies. This subject introduces you to: the intersection between the environment and health including the physical environment, climate change, environmental sustainability, natural disasters, and pandemics taking account of the politics; the role of public health professionals and managers in anticipating and responding to public health emergencies, surveillance, and risk management; and the four phases of management (mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery). Public health emergencies disproportionately impact some population groups and as such this subject is necessarily underpinned by the concepts of equity and human rights. Furthermore, key to mitigation, response and recovery is effective communication.
