Environmental health conditions in protracted displacement: A systematic scoping review

Abstract

Adequate environmental health services are critical for human rights, health, and development, especially in the context of forced displacement. There are more than 70 million forcibly displaced persons worldwide, most in protracted situations, having been displaced for more than two years. Some live in camps or informal settlements, but most live in urban areas. Environmental health services are important in the transition from emergency response to sustainable development in these settings, but evidence on environmental health in displaced populations is disparate and of variable quality. We conducted a systematic scoping review of environmental conditions, exposures, and outcomes in protracted displacement settings; obstacles to improvement in environmental health services; and recommendations made for improvement. We included 213 publications from peer-reviewed and grey literature databases. Data were extracted on environmental health topics including water, sanitation, hygiene, overcrowding, waste management, energy supply, vector control, menstrual hygiene, air quality, and food safety. Most studies present data from low-and lower-middle income countries. Northern Africa and Western Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the most-represented regions. There is substantial evidence on water, sanitation, and crowding, but few studies report findings on other environmental health topics. Water-related disease, parasites, and respiratory infections are frequently cited and studies report that services often fail to meet international standards for humanitarian response. The most frequent obstacles and recommendations are institutional, political, or implementation-related, but few studies provide concrete recommendations for improvement. Our review compiles and characterizes the research on environmental health in protracted displacement. We recommend including displaced populations in international environmental health policy and monitoring initiatives, and bridging from humanitarian response to sustainable development by preparing for long-term displacement from the early stages of a crisis.

Snowballing transmission of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) through wastewater: Any sustainable preventive measures to curtail the scourge in low-income countries?

“…Several studies have reported the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in feces and wastewater (Holshue et al, 2020;Wang et al, 2020a;Annalaura et al, 2020). Leakage of sewerage system when conveying wastewater containing contaminated excretes is one of the ways by which sanitary related diseases can be contracted by human beings (Behnke et al, 2020;Gormley et al, 2020). The best way to address this is to create a decentralized wastewater treatment facility.…”

Environmental health conditions in the transitional stage of forcible displacement: A systematic scoping review

“…Studies from both peer-reviewed and grey literature sources were searched using the strategy described by Behnke et al (2020). Peer-reviewed studies were identified through the…”

“…Settlements for displaced populations are primarily designed to provide rapid onset emergency support, such as basic shelter, medical care, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) facilities. However, they often fail to meet minimum environmental health standards, and are ill-suited to longer-term displacement (Behnke et al, 2020;Cronin et al, 2008;Sphere Association, 2018;van der Helm et al, 2017).…”

“…We explored environmental conditions, exposures, and outcomes; obstacles to improvement; and recommendations for improvement related to environmental health in these settings. This review is one of a set of systematic scoping reviews examining environmental health conditions in each of the three response phases (Behnke et al, 2020;Shackelford et al, 2020;UNHCR, 2017). The purpose of this review is to build a better understanding of the environmental health services in the transitional phase of forced displacement, and to contextualize these findings within the transition from emergency response to sustainable development.…”

Axes of a multidisciplinary model for sustainable innovation: Life transition after COVID-19

“…Several works have implied from various perspectives the rise of environmental health. Behnke et al (2020) conducted a systematic scoping review of environmental conditions, exposures, and outcomes in protracted displacement settings, obstacles to improvement in environmental health services. The data were extracted on environmental health topics, including water, sanitation, hygiene, overcrowding, waste management, energy supply, vector control, menstrual hygiene, air quality, and food safety.…”