Rapid and accelerated global development today has, often without being noticed, involved the widespread use and production of chemicals that are harmful to the environment and have the potential to affect human health.
In this regard, whether at the national or international level, Malaysia supports and is highly committed to various environmental health initiatives, including the First Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health in Southeast and East Asian Countries held in Bangkok in 2007, and the second forum held in Jeju, Republic of Korea, in 2010. During these forums, environment ministers and health ministers from the participating countries, including Malaysia, agreed to develop and implement NEHAP, which aims to identify risks, address environmental health issues, and ultimately improve environmental quality and public health.
Therefore, the Ministry of Health Malaysia has prepared a draft of the National Environmental Health Action Plan (NEHAP) through collaboration with various government agencies to identify, plan, control, implement, and evaluate the country’s environmental health management in order to help address emerging health impacts resulting from declining environmental quality.
On 5 December 2012, the Cabinet agreed to the proposal for the Ministry of Health Malaysia to establish and coordinate NEHAP to address national issues and needs related to environmental health, following the country’s commitments at the international level
The establishment of NEHAP Malaysia serves to formulate strategies so that its implementation focused on improving environmental health in the identified priority areas can be carried out more economically and effectively. This aligns with its main objective of strengthening collaboration and cooperation across multiple sectors through the efficient use of resources to enhance public health and promote sustainable development.