MANPOWER PRODUCTION: OPPORTUNITIES CREATED BY RESEARCH AND TRAINING GRANTS.

Abstract

MAN'S relation to his environment is changing rapidly, especially in terms of the complex problems of environmental health resulting from new developments in science and technology. As a consequence of these developments and resultant changes in the total environment, it has become necessary to revolutionize the entire approach to environmental health hazards, particularly through research and research training. To appreciate better the impact of these changes, the following points must be recognized: 1. Forces are continuously modifying man's relationship with his environment, and there is an increasing interaction between these forces, notably those generated by the growth of population and its changing age distribution, by the expansion of industry, and the associated urbanization of society, by the acceleration of communication and transportation, and by the rising standard of living and the attendant increase in the public demand for services. 2. There is an interrelationship among environmental health problem areas. The hazards we seek to prevent or control do not necessarily assert themselves as a single agent. insult, and there is a need to consider the total cause-and-effect relationship of man to his environment. 3. The very nature of environmental health problems makes an interdisciplinary approach to research and training an absolute necessity. 4. The effectiveness of the nation's effort in environmental health depends upon the continuing availability of competent personnel. 5. Environmental health problems cannot be approached solely within the traditional teaching-learning framework. They require ingenuity, new methodology, new instrumentation, field study, and unorthodox attack. Mindful of these factors, the environmental health units in the Public Health Service have undertaken to develop and expand their extramural research and training grant activities accordingly. To further scientific knowledge and to get answers to the many complex environmental health problems, there are now active research grant programs to support projects relating to the broad fields of Air Pollution Control, Water and Water Pollution Control, Radiological Health, Occupational Health, Environmental Engineering and Food Pro-