Most of the work in the field of environmental health is carried out on the local level. Sweden has 290 municipalities, in the range from approximately 4,000 inhabitants to around 650,000 inhabitants. Every municipality has one (or sometimes a few) boards responsible for environmental health.
On the regional level, the county boards are responsible for the co-ordination of the work.
Finally, on the central level there are three primary responsible ministries, namely
- The Ministry of Health and Social affairs
- The Ministry of the Environment and
- The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries.
Under these ministries the work on the central level is divided between among others
The National Board of Health and Welfare
The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
The National Food Administration
The National chemicals Inspectorate
The Swedish Board of Agriculture
The National Institute of Public Health
The National Board of Housing, Building and Planning
THE SCOPE OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH
In Sweden, environmental health normally includes a few topics that go beyond what is usual in many other countries. Local Environmental Health Authorities responsibilities of supervision and correction lies within the fields of:
- Air, ground and water protection and surveillance – Noise, both outdoors and indoors
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Chemicals
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Indoor climate; radon (very often from the ground or the ground water), ventilation (where the outdoor air is an important factor), mould (wrong construction or building sites), etc
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Public places and beaches
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Industry of which small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) make up the big part and also causes many problems since they often are not clearly regulated.
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Farms both with and without live stock
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Waste management control incl hazardous waste – Waste water handling
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Drinking water
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Food safety, “from seed to feed” which means not only sanitary factors but also the production, distribution, handling and consumtion of food. The environmental impact from the food chain is today assessed as being one of the major areas we have to tackle.
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Pest control
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Nature protection
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Animal welfare
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Information and participation programs involving the citizens, enterprises and organisations (this usually being part of the local Agenda 21 implementation)
LEGISLATION IN SWEDE
Since 1999, Sweden has a new code in the area, spanning from Agenda 21 and sustainable development to hygiene on camping sites. It is based on 15 national objectives and also on general principles from the Rio conference, eg PPP, BAT and other international standards.
EDUCATION
There are several educations thar can lead to a position as an EHO in Sweden. The most usual is the four-year programme at Umeå University. More information is found here.
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Informação obtida no sítio da Associação dos Profissionais de Saúde Ambiental da Suécia (Yrkesföreningen Miljö och Hälsa)
