In the issue of the global dominance of environmental health by the industrialized countries, two main points are identified: 1) the powerful environmental health movement in developed economies may actually be holding back efforts to reduce damage to health by overriding needs and circumstances in less developed ones; 2) this movement may be helping developing countries protect their populations against environmental damage by fostering the growth of their scientific and technical knowledge, thereby reducing global damage to health. This article enumerates examples of the benefits and the harmful impact derived from the global dominance of environmental health issues by industrialized countries. In terms of harmful impacts, the examples selected are concerned with global interests that may not adequately cover the needs in developing countries. These include the issues on malaria control and DDT use, chlorination of drinking-water, and incineration of medical waste. For the benefits, the examples include globalized information, trade agreements, which improve some standards in developing countries, and the experience of industrialized countries since the 1960s.

This article appears as number 9 of volume 78 of The Bulletin of WHO.