By Kayode OjewaleSIR: World Health Organisation (WHO), defines environment as, all the physical, chemical and biological factors external to a person, and all the related behaviours. About five decades ago, WHO also defined health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It can be inferred from these definitions that mans interactions with everything that surrounds him determine his well-being.A school of thought, generally accepted by many environmentalists, has it that, virtually everything that man does, is in response to his environment. Mans environment, internal or external, dictates his actions most times and hence affects the quality of life. Our environment affects us and we affect it in turn. This is because our environment does to us what we do to it in areas of treatment and handling. It may be indirectly, but we certainly do. This therefore establishes mans core relationship with his environment.Some environmental experts have even argued that man is the real threat to his own life on planet earth. This narrative can change when we engage in healthy activities that will protect, maintain and restore the quality of our environment.Humanity has forgotten that the environment can exist without man, but no man without the environment. We are then at the mercy of the environment when we are attacked by diseases that are environmentally-induced. How then do we treat the environment to avoid being stricken by illnesses' Or in what ways have we been negatively impacting the environment by our actions and inactions as humans' Why have we neglected or paid little attention to the way we take care of our environment as humans' Where exactly did we miss the understanding of the role environment plays in our health as we daily interact with it' Why is the environment so important just as the human health' When are we reconciling with our environment by giving it what it deserves and demands'Certain human activities like overexploitation of resources, indiscriminate bush burning, pollution and deforestation all destroy or negatively impact the environment on a large scale. The environment is as important as our health and must be protected because a healthy environment or ecosystem provides us with food, clean water and purified air. A healthy environment also regulates climate and maintains our soil. Mans failure to protect his environment is borne out of his poor understanding of the role it plays. An unhealthy environment will certainly snowball into unhealthy lifestyle. The time to reconcile with our environment is now so that we can save our own lives.Diseases are best prevented when the environment is healthy. Humanity must live life with this caveat in mind: When man dies, the environment still lives; but when the environment dies, it automatically signals the arrival of death for man.Kayode Ojewale, Idimu, Lagos.
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