4.3: Human Health
Ensure that health considerations are duly taken into account in the planning and execution of future activities by building
on the relevant strengths of Scientific Unions and Interdisciplinary Bodies.
Other Information:
The protection of human health is a central concern of modern society and a major focus of scientific research. The types
of health threats faced by different societies around the world vary widely, depending upon a country’s wealth, food availability,
level of education, public health infrastructure, access to medicines and other factors. For instance, infectious diseases
and malnutrition are major threats in many developing countries, while cardiovascular disease and cancer are dominant concerns
in wealthier nations. Pollution (of air, water and food), impacts of smoking, alcoholism and traffic accidents are world-wide
health concerns and the AIDS pandemic and recent outbreaks of other infectious diseases have illustrated the global nature
of many emerging health threats. Over the past century, science has led to enormous advances in public health, including the
eradication of several major diseases and increased life expectancy in large parts of the world. Yet there remain a wide array
of human health problems that are potentially preventable or treatable with better scientific understanding and application
of the necessary resources. To date, ICSU has not been a major player in international health research and with some justification
in that there are many other national and international bodies that focus on health research. At the same time, there is a
growing awareness that human health is inextricably linked to the health of our planet and environmental change (areas in
which ICSU has undoubted strengths). Similarly, it is difficult to envisage an integrated scientific approach to sustainable
development that does not include human health issues. There is a wealth of expertise within the ICSU community on various
aspects of health research, which needs to be more fully incorporated into ICSU’s existing activities. There is also a need
for new partnerships with the clinical research community.
Objective(s):
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