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The rapidly changing, chemicalised and polluted world of today is resulting in the human body's increasing inability to cope with substances in the environment. Environmental hazards are a serious threat to public health and well-being, while impact is often large-scale and irreversible. Changes in ecosystems as a result of environmental deterioration may influence the growth, transmission and activity of many infectious diseases. Human health is likely to be adversely affected, either directly or indirectly, through complex interactions of biological systems.

Soil and air pollution, water contamination and inadequate food production, due to soil erosion and acidification, are just a few agents that can prove detrimental to public health and all stem from poor environmental management. Without proper understanding of the urgent need to halt environmental deterioration, it will be impossible to counter these threats. Since modern medicine stresses prevention as superior to treatment, efforts should focus on eliminating the sources of pollution, and establishing a "healthy" and clean environment.

The environment and human health have been a priority for B.I.O. since 1985. Many contributors to the volumes of proceedings from our international conferences have addressed these issues, and over 15 articles have been published in BioNews. Within the framework of the European Union’s Leonardo da Vinci Programme, B.I.O. has prepared teaching manuals in English and Greek to be used in vocational training programmes in several European countries. A comprehensive volume on “Bio-Health” is published in Bio-Syllabus for European Environmental Education, an 880-page textbook available in print and electronically (CD-Rom). Based on this pioneering material is B.I.O.’s e-learning course on “Health and the Environment,” which is offered in English and Greek within the framework of our extensive e-learning programme.