Siddhi Aryal of Vital Strategies introduces us to the Children’s Environmental Health Indicators Initiative (CEHI) and explores public health, the environment and climate change.
Unhealthy environments have been linked to a range of significant health risks to children, including premature birth, stillbirth, increased lifelong risk for brain and behavioural problems, respiratory disorders, cardiovascular disease, cancers, dysfunction of hormonal and reproductive systems, and more.
Globally, more than 1 in 4 childhood deaths under 5 years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments—a statistic that will continue to rise as climate change magnifies the world’s most important environmental risk factors.
While environmental health risk factors are clearly leading causes of child illness and death in Asia, country-specific, systematic data needed to develop approaches to improving children’s health and reducing, minimising, and preventing environmental risk factors is often lacking.
We learn how Children’s Environmental Health Indicators (CEHI) can fill the data and knowledge gap in children’s environmental health; enabling tracking, assessment and reporting on the status and impacts of climate and the environment on children’s health as well as the evaluation of environmental interventions and policies.
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About Siddhi Aryal
Dr Siddhi Aryal is the Regional Director for Vital Strategies Asia Pacific and leads strategic partnerships and fundraising efforts in the region. He also provides oversight and leadership to the Singapore team in their work implementing global programs.
He is a trained public health professional with over 20 years of experience in South and Southeast Asia in designing, managing, and implementing health and development programs in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
Dr Aryal comes to Vital Strategies after serving in regional director roles for the QED group, Malaria Consortium, and 'Pact's US $25 million, five-year USAID/REACH program covering HIV and livelihoods support. He has a Ph.D. in Health Systems from Tulane University and Master of Science in Health from University College London.