Future Directions in Population Health

Abstract

The long-term health of the population will be influenced by a number of major forces in the next century. In this brief review, particular emphasis is placed on environmental and economic forces. Major global environmental changes include climate change and global warming, resource depletion, ecotoxicity and reduced biodiversity. We do not yet know the impact on longevity of lifetime exposure to a mix of persistent toxic chemicals in our environment, since it has only been widespread in the past 40-50 years. The health impacts of global warming are only just beginning to be understood and could be profound. But perhaps the most profound threat to population health is economic growth, to the extent that it undermines environmental and social sustainability. We need a new form of capitalism, one that simultaneously increases environmental, social, economic and human capital, if population health is to be maintained in the 21st century.