Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges

Due to the consequences of approximately 76.9 million liters of herbicides used by the U.S. Army as part of Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam War, in conjunction with rapid industrialization, urbanization and economic development in the recent decades, Vietnam now faces various severe environm...

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Main Authors: Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh, Hung Nguyen-Viet
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2013
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33936
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author Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh
Hung Nguyen-Viet
author_browse Hung Nguyen-Viet
Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh
author_facet Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh
Hung Nguyen-Viet
author_sort Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Due to the consequences of approximately 76.9 million liters of herbicides used by the U.S. Army as part of Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam War, in conjunction with rapid industrialization, urbanization and economic development in the recent decades, Vietnam now faces various severe environmental health risks. Public health concern and outrage are usually high regarding risks associated with vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and children or risks occurring on large scales. If environmental health risks are not adequately assessed, communicated, and managed, public trust and supports can dramatically decrease. Risk communication can be a beneficial tool especially in the context of mass communication channel development and availability. However, there are also significant challenges. Experiences in recent years has shown that risk communication activities regarding melamine and powdered milk, cholera exposure and shrimp paste, beta-agonists carcinogens in pork, dioxin in the environment, etc. were not conducted in effective ways, resulting in large financial losses and fear in the community. This article introduces the concepts and core principles of environmental health risk communication(hereafter referred to as risk communication), provides some examples of missed opportunities for effective risk communication implementation and analyses their consequences.
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spelling CGSpace339362023-10-16T14:01:41Z Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh Hung Nguyen-Viet health Due to the consequences of approximately 76.9 million liters of herbicides used by the U.S. Army as part of Operation Ranch Hand during the Vietnam War, in conjunction with rapid industrialization, urbanization and economic development in the recent decades, Vietnam now faces various severe environmental health risks. Public health concern and outrage are usually high regarding risks associated with vulnerable groups, including pregnant women and children or risks occurring on large scales. If environmental health risks are not adequately assessed, communicated, and managed, public trust and supports can dramatically decrease. Risk communication can be a beneficial tool especially in the context of mass communication channel development and availability. However, there are also significant challenges. Experiences in recent years has shown that risk communication activities regarding melamine and powdered milk, cholera exposure and shrimp paste, beta-agonists carcinogens in pork, dioxin in the environment, etc. were not conducted in effective ways, resulting in large financial losses and fear in the community. This article introduces the concepts and core principles of environmental health risk communication(hereafter referred to as risk communication), provides some examples of missed opportunities for effective risk communication implementation and analyses their consequences. 2013-06 2013-11-07T09:15:38Z 2013-11-07T09:15:38Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33936 Open Access Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh and Hung Nguyen-Viet. 2013. Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges. Vietnamese Journal of Preventive Medicine 23(4): 77-82.
spellingShingle health
Tran Thi Tuyet Hanh
Hung Nguyen-Viet
Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title_full Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title_fullStr Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title_full_unstemmed Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title_short Environmental health risk communication: Concept, principles and challenges
title_sort environmental health risk communication concept principles and challenges
topic health
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/33936
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