Punjab University Department of Zoology's Professor Dr Zulfiqar Ali has won Transnational Education Programme Development grant from British Council in their INSPIRE programme. According to details, University of the Punjab and University of Essex-UK have signed a contract to develop new relationship in courses curriculum development on environmental health.
As University of Essex, UK is the lead university in the technology of aerosol monitoring and assessment, through this link, Professor Colbeck and his research scholar (associates) can provide best help in construction of courses and their delivery for expertise development for the University of the Punjab. Both partners already have published a book on Basics of Air Pollution Monitoring and six research papers in international journals.
The rationale behind this program is that in the last few decades, the importance of the relationship between humans and the environment has become prominent in the social consciousness. Recognition of this importance has come from a new understanding of environmental health issues, including evidence that many environment-related health problems, such as asthma and neurological damage from lead exposure, affect children disproportionately. A number of efforts are under way around the nation to educate children about the concepts and principles of environmental health with the goal of expanding science education, empowering children to avoid some adverse environmental exposures, and helping them to grow into informed citizens who can assess and affect important public health issues. While environmental health may not figure prominently on the radar screen of the educational establishment, education definitely figures on that of environmental health professionals. Curricula include zoology components such as ecology and pollution remediation, little focus on environmental health. Environmental health is a multidisciplinary concept involving principles and methods from toxicology, epidemiology, endocrinology, public health, and other specialties. Whereas environmental science tends to address how human beings affect the rest of the biosphere, environmental health focuses on how the environment affects human health.
Many environmental influences on human health are man-made-for example, pesticides, industrial chemicals, and air pollution-but environmental health also encompasses broad public health issues including tobacco use, infectious disease, indoor air quality and allergies, and sanitation. Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran has congratulated Dr Zulfiqar Ali on winning the proposal amid international competition.