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Position Statement on World Environmental Health Day, September 26, 2025

NEHA is proud to celebrate World Environmental Health Day. The celebration, with the theme "Clean Air, Healthy People," emphasizes the direct link between clean air and good health. Air free from pollutants is crucial to limiting respiratory ailments and maintaining the health of the public.

Protecting the public from adverse air pollution requires sustained policies and practices performed by the efforts of the ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health workforce. Governmental policies and practices that ensure and improve air quality only work with an effective and trained ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health workforce.

World Environmental Health Day embraces the spirit of ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health pioneer William Gorgas, U.S. Army Surgeon General, whose work on eradicating Yellow Fever made the construction of the Panama Canal possible. His tireless efforts to improve sanitary conditions throughout Latin America and Africa show how fundamental the ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health profession is in protecting the public’s health.

We are the people who protect the public from not only adverse air quality but also unhealthy drinking water, spoiled and expired foods, and water and wastewater contamination. Our workforce gets communities back on their feet after natural disasters, ensuring the public has safe drinking water, healthy foods, and sanitary facilities. We are expanding into countries across the globe, bringing safe food, water and sanitation to people of every nation.

Environmental health professionals are unseen and unrecognized by many. Despite their essential contributions, ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health professionals often deal with modest compensation, a lack of recognition, chronic under-resourcing, and ever-expanding duties under stressful conditions. Nonetheless, they are an essential resource in international, national, and local efforts to minimize risk to the public’s health. Effective policies and practices to protect the public from air pollution and other health risks rely heavily on a well-trained ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health workforce.

Our professional network possesses diverse official designations— ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health officer, hygienist, sanitarian, to name a few. We are, however, unified in our dedication to tackling ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ threats that affect the public’s health.

In the face of these challenges, our workforce has prevailed. We have guided businesses to create safe workplaces for their employees. We continue to ensure the safety of food being served in and purchased from restaurants and retail outlets. We have offered insights and recommendations on public gatherings and how they can occur safely. We have provided technical assistance to hospitals, early child education, and emergency preparedness. We have collaborated with older adults and vulnerable populations to ensure they remain safe. We have been involved in contingency planning, contact tracing, passenger surveillance, assessment of quarantine and isolation facilities, and the supervision of cleaning and disinfection of healthcare facilities. In short, our workforce safeguards ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ and health infrastructure that is vital for all humans.

Environmental health knows no social or geographical limits. Our professional network is active in the private, public, and voluntary sectors and uniformed services throughout the globe. Across multiple jurisdictions, regardless of job titles or designations, and with the help of support staff, ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health professionals have been engaged in the tasks of translating scientific knowledge into the practice of prevention and recovery.

Environmental health organizations worldwide are unified in their support of the character, dedication, and service of the ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health workforce. While ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health professionals and their work can go unrecognized, we are essential to modern society. The ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health profession worldwide works endlessly to protect and improve the lives of people everywhere, in developed and developing countries.

As we celebrate World Environmental Health Day, we commend the ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health professionals who are there to prepare us, guide us, and lead us through future challenges, embracing the legacy of William Gorgas. We collectively thank them for their professionalism and perseverance.

Sincerely,

Larry Ramdin, MPH, MA, REHS/RS, CP-FS, HHS, CHO

President, Board of Directors for NEHA

LRamdin@neha.org

The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) represents 7,615 ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ public health professionals in governmental, private, academic, and uniformed services sectors in the U.S., its territories, and internationally. We are the profession’s strongest advocate for excellence in the practice of ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health and thought leaders in delivering on our mission to build, sustain, and empower an effective ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ health workforce.

We shepherd one of the most vital next generations of professionals—the ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ public health professional who is on the front line protecting communities from the harmful impacts in our environment, including animal-borne disease, water contamination, air pollution, hazardous materials, contaminated food, and ÂÜÀòÊÓƵ disasters.