Identification of capacities in environmental health from environmental authorities in Colombia

Objectives To diagnose the capabilities that environmental authorities and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development have to assume their role in environmental health, based on the capacity model of the United Nations Program for Development UNDP. Method Document review, interviews on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista de salud pública (Bogotá, Colombia) Colombia), 2016-08, Vol.18 (4), p.605-616
Main Authors: Agudelo-Calderón, Carlos A, García-Ubaque, Juan C, Robledo-Martínez, Rocío, García-Ubaque, Cesar A, Vaca-Bohórquez, Martha L
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Capacity Building
Colombia
Environment
Environmental Health - legislation & jurisprudence
Environmental Health - organization & administration
Environmental Health - standards
Government Agencies - organization & administration
Government Agencies - standards
Health Policy
Humans
Models, Theoretical
United Nations
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Summary:Objectives To diagnose the capabilities that environmental authorities and the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development have to assume their role in environmental health, based on the capacity model of the United Nations Program for Development UNDP. Method Document review, interviews on key issues and a commented survey were conducted. 84 entities were selected for a tailored survey; complete information was obtained from 76 institutions. Results The valuation of environment favorability was within the acceptable and unfavorable categories; knowledge management capabilities were found to be precarious and assessment of functional capabilities ranged between appropriate and acceptable. The assessment of specific capabilities had a rating of poor or barely acceptable. Conclusions Two major problems were found: a. The environmental authorities do not conceive or implement these capabilities based on the UNDP model but on the conventional model of the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development; b. Environmental authorities show an incipient level of incorporation of environmental health policies in their field of action.
ISSN:0124-0064
DOI:10.15446/rsap.v18n4.57517