Healthcare System in Australia and UK Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Healthcare System in Australia and UK. Answer: Introduction Health Care system in Australia plays an important role in providing health care services to the individuals residing in the Country. It includes access to hospitals and medical facilities and treatment for the cure of various diseases. The health Care System in Australia is a complex method and has many responsibilities because the States depend on financial matters from Commonwealth in order to support their health care systems. There are various programmes in the State and a number of healthcare initiatives are organized in the country. There are also non government organizations such as The Australian Red Cross Blood Service that collects donations of blood and delivers them to various providers of Australian healthcare. The National Health and Medical Research Council helps in funding research in health and medical domains. Private organizations also play an important role in providing healthcare services such as Medical Resonance Imaging (MRI).The Australian healthcare system p lays an important role in delivering various healthcare services such as emergency services, primary healthcare services, treatment plan and surgical procedures, and rehabilitation facilities. Healthcare facilities in the UK is provided by the National Health Service and it provides healthcare facilities free of cost to all the residents who are living permanently(Hepburn, Cohen, Bhawra, Weiser, Hayeems, 2015).It involves general practitioners to provide primary health services to patients. The hospitals also provide wide range of services including special care to patients suffering from mental illness, emergency care by ambulances to individuals who met with accidents that is free of cost at times. The country also provides private health care services for residents who wish to pay and they do not receive NHS funds for the medical treatment and various services. This essay deals with the comparison of Health Systems in two countries that is Australia and the UK on the basis of va rious areas like the Funding System, Governance System, Maternal Mortality Rate, Infant Mortality Rate, Life Expectancy at Birth and Health Status including Low Birth weight, Obesity, Diabetes, Asthma, Hypertension, Cancer and % GDP spent on Health. Funding System in Australia and the UK Funding and insurance of health in Australia includes both funding by the government and private health insurance. Medicare scheme is used for funding by the government to provide free care in public hospitals, prescriptions at low cost and a large no of medical services. Private health insurance in Australia is provided by insurance organizations called as health funds. Medibank is the largest health fund with a market share of 30 %.There are various private insurance health schemes introduced by the government of Australia such as Lifetime Health Cover, Medical Levy Surcharge and Private Health Insurance Rebate. Medicare is a administered by Medicare Australia and it is mainly concerned with the payment of nurses, doctors and the finance of hospitals that are state run. The National Health Service (NHS) provides healthcare services that include health care including dental care, ophthalmology, primary care, and long-term healthcare. It includes trusts that help in the delivery of healthcare services such as commissioning trusts that help in the analysis of the needs of local population and the provider trusts that involve NHS bodies to deliver the health care service. According to a report of 2014, the United Kingdom was awarded for providing best healthcare services in the world on the basis of various categories such as patient- centered care, safe and co-ordinated care and efficiency in providing patient satisfaction. Palliative care provided by the UK to its patients has also awarded as best on the global level. Governance System in Australia and the UK The health ministers in the country that includes the state and territory ministers and the Commonwealth to coordinate the public health system in Australia. The Standing Council on Health has an important role in coordination and includes a group of health ministers. The Council of Australian Governments is an important intergovernmental forum in the country and includes the Standing Council. The main objectives of the Standing Council are providing patient care and satisfaction by providing transparent medical facilities with the help of expert clinicians and nurses. It also helps to fund various hospitals so that they can provide excellent health care services to its patients in the future. It also helps in reducing the gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous population residing in Australia. The Standing Council also works to provide primary health care services to the ageing population, health care services in the rural areas, Indigenous and mental health services and comm unity health care(Kelaher, Sabanovic, Brooy, Lock, Brown, 2014). The Advisory Board plays an important role in the development of various healthcare strategies governs the healthcare system in the UK. The Cabinet Office and the Office the Prime Minister also help in monitoring the progress(Bowling, 2014). Maternal Mortality Rate Maternal death is defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or after 42 days after the pregnancy. Maternal death in present years. The death of the mother in the family leads to various problems among her family members. The occurrence of deaths in maternal population is expressed in terms of maternal mortality ratio. The MMR is defined as the number of death occurred due to some complications and issues during the pregnancy that is called as direct deaths or worsening of disease that has occurred due to pregnancy per 100,000 women that are giving birth. It does not include if the death has occurred after 42days of pregnancy or due to any other unknown causes. According to a report of The World Health Organization 2015, it was recorded that around 19 deaths of women occurred during their pregnancy in Australia and its MMR was 6 in the year 2015(Hollams, Klerk, Sly, 2015). The death of pregnant women belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population was double as compared to the women of normal population as they are incapable to provide proper treatment and healthcare facilities to pregnant women. It was reported in the 2015 that 74 pregnant women died during pregnancy in the UK due to abortion, infection, psychosocial issues and cardiovascular problems and its MMR was 7 in the same year(Johansson, Villamo, Altman, Bonamy, Granath, 2015). It occurs due to various issues like direct death involving complications during pregnancy and indirect death due to cardiac problems and medical health issues that are not related to pregnancy. It has been reported that psychosocial issues is the main cause of deaths in women that occurs due to domestic violence and mistreatment that ultimately leads to suicide. Infant mortality rate Infant mortality rate is defined as the number of death of the infants per 1000 live births. In the year 2015, it was reported that deaths of 991 infants had occurred that included 542 males and 449 females as compared to 1012 infant deaths in the year 2014. This shows that there was a decrease of 2.1 % in the number of deaths of infants in the past 10 years from the year 2005-2016. The infant mortality rate in 2015 was the lowest with 3.2 deaths of infants per 1000 live births and in 2005; the infant mortality rate was 4.9 deaths per 1000 live births(Fraser, Sidebotham, Frederick, Mitchell, 2015). The infant mortality rate in the UK has decreased from 5.6 in the year 2005 to 3.9 in the year 2015 (Wolfe, Macfarlane, Donkin, Viner, 2015).Scotland showed the highest decrease of all the countries in the 10-year period. Infant mortality rate is an important aspect to measure the quality of healthcare services provide to the country and the population growth. Life expectancy at birth Life expectancy at birth is an important measure to study about the health of the population and the mortality rate. It is used to measure the duration a person will be able to live based on present age and death rates specific to sex. In the last century, the life expectancy in Australia has increased in both the sexes. A boy who is born in the years 2013-2015 is expected to live until 80.4 years of age and girls until 84.5 years of age. For the individuals belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population who are born in between 2010-2012, the life expectancy was estimated to be 10.6 years less as compared to that of non-Indigenous population for males(Phillips, Morrell, Daniels, 2014).Australia is considered to have one of the highest life expectancies in all the countries in the world. Life expectancy at birth in the UK has increased from the previous years. A boy who is born in the years 2013-2015 is expected to live until 79.1 years and a female born is expected to live until 82.8 years if the rate of mortality remains the same(Head, et al., 2013). Health Status : Low Birth weight According to World Health Organization, if the weight of an infant is less than 2,500 grams or 5.5 pounds he or she is considered to be in a low birth rate category. It is monitored by using surveys in households and health system surveillance. It was reported in the year 2013, around 22 million newborn babies that are 16 % of all the infants that were born on a global scale in that year, had low birth weight (Hutchinson, De Luca, Doyle, Roberts, Anderson, 2013). It is a challenging process because weight is not recorded in a large number of infants during the birth. Low birth rate is linked with increased occurrence of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. Low birth weight in the UK has remained the same as compared to the previous years. In the year, 2013 it was reported that around 6% of babies had low birth weights that is it was less than 2500 grams(Drummond, Sculpher, Claxton, Torrance). Obesity Obesity refers to accumulation of fat in the individuals that make them overweight and leads to various diseases such as diabetes, cancer, mental issues and cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. It was reported that 56% of the population were identified as obese in 1995 and it was increased to 63% in the year 2014-15 and the average weight for both male and female was increased by 4.4 kg(Ng, et al., 2014).There are various factors that lead to obesity such as lack of balanced diet and physical exercise. It was reported that the obesity in the population living in UK showed an increase from 32.3%in the year 1995 to 52% in the year 2015(Arora, Hosseini?Araghi, Bishop, Yao, Thomas, 2015). Body Mass Index (BMI) is the most common method to measure the obesity in the body of an individual and it is calculated by dividing the weight of a person in kilograms by the height square in meters. Diabetes Diabetes has become one of the major challenges in the health system of Australia in the 21st century. It has been reported that in every 5 minutes one individual develops the symptoms of diabetes. It was reported in the year 2016, a total of 1.7 million individuals suffer from diabetes in Australia. It is increasing at rapid rate and type 1diabetes is around 10% of all the diabetes and type 2 diabetes is around 85 % of all the diabetes (Renzaho Marks, 2016).It has also been reported that there are around 4,400 amputations due to diabetes in Australia every year. Gestational diabetes is also increasing at a rapid rate in pregnant women. It has been reported in the year 2016, there are around 4.5 million people in the UK who are diagnosed with diabetes. It includes 1 million people those who have not been diagnosed and are suffering from Type 2 diabetes (Niranjan Price, 2016). Asthma Asthma is defined as respiratory illness that leads to difficulty in breathing. According to the reports, around 2.5 million individuals suffered from asthma in the year 2016 in Australia that means that one in nine individuals (Willis Keleher, 2016). In the indigenous populations, the rate of occurrence of asthma is double as compared to that of non-indigenous populations. This disease is more prevalent in people who have low socio economic status. There are around 5.4 million people who suffered from asthma in the year 2016 in the UK including 1.1 million children and 4.3 million adults(Cook, Cole, Asaria, Francis, 2016). The UK has highest number of patients suffering from asthma and the NHS spends approximately 1 billion per year to provide care and treatment for patients suffering from asthma. Hypertension Hypertension is also known as high blood pressure and it can lead to various diseases such as heart failure, stroke or disease in kidney. It was reported that 2.6 million individuals suffered from hypertension in the year 2014- 2015 that is 11.3% of the total Australian population. The prevalence of hypertension was higher in males as compared to females that is, 12 % for males and 10.7 % in females and it also increases with age(Roberts, Algert, Ford, 2015). It was reported in the year 204-2015, that 32 % of the individuals residing in the UK suffered from hypertension as a large number of individuals do not keep a check on their blood pressure (Rapsomaniki, et al., 2015). Around one- third of the population in the UK are not aware of the fact that they are suffering from high blood pressure. It has also been reported that the level of high blood pressure increases in the women as there is a decrease in their income. Cancer Cancer can be defined as the condition in which all the cells in the body multiply in an abnormal manner and become out of control. It was reported that, in the year 2013 there were 124,465 new cases of cancer diagnosis in Australia, which included 68,936 males and 55,529 females.It is also estimated that around 134,174 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in 2017 in Australia(Moore, Antoni, Colquhoun, Healy, Bray, 2013) . It was reported in the year 2013, that around 152,432 deaths had occurred in the UK due to patients suffering from cancer. Half of the patients suffering from cancer died due to breast cancer, lung cancer, bowel or prostate cancer (DeSantis, Ma, Jemal, 2013). Cancer leads to more than one death in four of all the deaths in the UK. Liver cancer is the main cause of increase in the mortality rates in both the males and the females over the past 10 years and stomach cancer is the main cause of decrease in the mortality rates in both the males and the females over the past 10 years. Health System Performance: Percentage GDP spend on Healthcare The percentage of GDP spend in healthcare in Australia was 9.4% of the total GDP in the year 2014 as compared to 7.3% in the year 1995. This shows that the government of Australia has increased the expenditure to provide better healthcare facilities to its individuals to give better care and patient satisfaction. It was reported in the year 2014 that the UK spent 9.1 % of the total GDP in healthcare as compared to 6.7% of the total GDP spent in the year 2014(Fuchs, 2014).Both the countries are efficient in increasing the expenditure to provide excellent health care facilities. Discussion Maternal mortality rate was higher in the UK as compared to that of Australia in the year 2015.This is because of lack of proper treatment facilities to women during the time of pregnancy. It is also reported that psychosocial issues is the main cause of deaths in women that occurs due to domestic violence and mistreatment that ultimately leads to suicide. It was observed that there was an increase of 7% in the percentage of obese population from the year 1995-2015 and an increase of 20 % in the UK for the same year.This is because the population living in the UK do not follow a balanced diet and perform physical exercise leading to obesity. This in turn leads to various diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, stroke and heart attack. There are around 1.7 million individuals suffering from diabetes in Australia and around 4.5 million individuals in the UK. This difference is because a large no of people in the UK do not undergo health checkups and they are not aware that they are s uffering from diabetes. There are around 2.5 million people suffering from asthma in Australia and 5.4 billion people in the UK. This is because of blockage of oxygen into the lungs and increase in the production of mucus. Around 11.6 % of population in Australia suffer from hypertension and around 32% in the UK. This difference is due to the reason that a large number of individuals do not get their blood pressure tested unless they visit the doctor. Deaths of cancer patients was also more in UK than Australia due to increase in the number of cancer patients. Conclusion It can be concluded from the comparisons of the health systems of both the countries Australia and the UK that both the countries provide government and private health insurance to all its individuals to avail proper health services and medical treatments. This helps the patients can get proper care and patient satisfaction. The department of Health Ministry governs the healthcare system in both the countries and they play an important role in developing and strategizing various measures and guidelines in order to deliver proper healthcare services in an effective manner. Infant mortality rate decreased in both the countries, the UK and Australia from the year 2005-2015. Life expectancy at birth was also almost the same for birth the countries. Low birth weight had no significant change as compared to previous years in both Australia and the UK. The percentage of GDP spent by the government in providing health care services to its individuals was same for both the countries in the ye ar 2014 to ensure that people get access to proper medical facilities. Bibliography Arora, Hosseini?Araghi, Bishop, Yao, Thomas. (2015). The complexity of obesity in UK adolescents: relationships with quantity and type of technology, sleep duration and quality, academic performance and aspiration.,. Pediatric obesity, 8(5), 358-366. Bowling. (2014). Research methods in health:investigating health and health service. . McGraw-Hill Education (UK). Cook, Cole, Asaria, Francis, J. (2016). The annual global economic burden of heart failure, . International journal of cardiology, 171(3), 368-376. DeSantis, Ma, Jemal, B. (2013). Breast cancer statistics, 2013., . CA: a cancer journal for clinicians, 64(1), 52-62. Drummond, Sculpher, Claxton, Torrance, S. . (n.d.). Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes. Oxford university press. Fraser, Sidebotham, Frederick, Mitchell, C. . (2015). Learning from child death review in the USA, England, Australia, and New Zealand. The Lance, 384(9946), 894-903. Fuchs. (2014). The gross domestic product and health care spending., . New England Journal of Medicine, 369(2), 107-109. Head, Chungkham, Hyde, aninotto, Alexanderson, enholm, V. (2013). Socioeconomic differences in healthy life expectancy: Evidence from four prospective cohort studiesJenny Head. . European Journal of Public Health,, 26(suppl_1). Hepburn, Cohen, Bhawra, Weiser, Hayeems, . G. (2015). Health system strategies supporting transition to adult care. , . Archives of disease in childhood, 100(6), 559-564. Hollams, Klerk, D., Sly, H. . (2015). Persistent effects of maternal smoking during pregnancy on lung function and asthma in adolescents. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, , 189(4), 401-407. Hutchinson, De Luca, Doyle, Roberts, Anderson. (2013). School-age outcomes of extremely preterm or extremely low birth weight children. . Pediatrics. Johansson, Villamo, Altman, Bonamy, Granath. (2015). Maternal overweight and obesity in early pregnancy and risk of infant mortality: a population based cohort study in Sweden. ,. Bmj, 349, g6572. Kelaher, Sabanovic, Brooy, L., Lock, Brown, L. . (2014). Does more equitable governance lead to more equitable health care? A case study based on the implementation of health reform in Aboriginal health Australia. , . Social Science Medicine, 123, 278-286. Moore, Antoni, Colquhoun, Healy, E.-L., Bray, P. . (2013). Cancer incidence in indigenous people in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the USA: a comparative population-based study. . The Lancet Oncology, 16(15), 1483-1492. Ng, Fleming, Robinson, Thomson, Graetz, Margono, . A. (2014). Global, regional, and national prevalence of overweight and obesity in children and adults during 19802013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study . , . The Lancet, 384(9945), 766-781. Niranjan, Price, W. . (2016). Do diabetes teams give consistent advice? Yorkshire paediatric diabetes network (uk) survey on target setting for self-management of type 1 diabetes.,. Pediatric Diabetes, 15, 134. Phillips, Morrell, Daniels, T. . (2014). A review of life expectancy and infant mortality estimations for Australian Aboriginal people. . BMC Public Health, 14(1), 1. Rapsomaniki, Timmis, George, Pujades-Rodriguez, Shah, Denaxas. (2015). Blood pressure and incidence of twelve cardiovascular diseases: lifetime risks, healthy life-years lost, and age-specific associations in 1 25 million people. . The Lancet,, 383(9932), 1899-1911. Renzaho, Marks, B. . (2016). Obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure amongst recently arrived Sudanese refugees in Queensland, Australia. , . Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16(1), 86-94. Roberts, Algert, Ford, M. . (2015). Increased planned delivery contributes to declining rates of pregnancy hypertension in Australia: a population-based record linkage study. BMJ open, 5(10), e009313. Willis, Keleher, R. . (2016). Understanding the Australian health care system. Elsevier Health Sciences. Wolfe, Macfarlane, Donkin, Viner, M. . (2015). Why children die: death in infants, children and young people in the UK. Part A. Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

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On the morning of August 6, 1945, a B-29 bomber named Enola Gay flew over the industrial city of Hiroshima, Japan and dropped the first atomic bomb ever. The city went up in flames caused by the immense power equal to about 20,000 tons of TNT. The project was a success. They were an unprecedented assemblage of civilian, and military scientific brain powerbrilliant, intense, and young, the people that helped develop the bomb. Unknowingly they came to an isolated mountain setting, known as Los Alamos, New Mexico, to design and build the bomb that would end World War 2, but begin serious controversies concerning its sheer power and destruction. I became interested in this topic because of my interest in science and history. It seemed an appropriate topic because I am presently studying World War 2 in my Social Studies Class. The Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings were always taught to me with some opinion, and I always wanted to know the bomb itself and the unbiased effects that it had. This I-search was a great opportunity for me to actually fulfill my interest. The Manhattan Project was the code name for the US effort during World War II to produce the atomic bomb. It was appropriately named for the Manhattan Engineer District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, because much of the early research was done in New York City (Badash 238). Sparked by refugee physicists in the United States, the program was slowly organized after nuclear fission was discovered by German scientists in 1938, and many US scientists expressed the fear that Hitler would attempt to build a fission bomb. Frustrated with the idea that Germany might produce an atomic bomb first, Leo Szilard and other scientists asked Albert Einstein, a famous scientist during that time, to use his influence and write a letter to president FDR, pleading for support to further research the power of nuclear fission (Badash 237). His letters were a success, and President Roosevelt established the Manhattan Project. Physicists from 1939 onward conducted much research to find answers to such questions as how many neutrons were emitted in each fission, which elements would not capture the neutrons but would moderate or reduce their velocity , and whether only the lighter and scarcer isotope of uranium (U-235) fissioned or the common isotope (U-238) could be used. They learned that each fission releases a few neutrons. A chain reaction, therefore, was theoretically possible, if not too many neutrons escaped from the mass or were captured by impurities. To create this chain reaction and turn it into a usable weapon was the ultimate goal of the Manhattan Project. In 1942 General Leslie Groves was chosen to lead the project, and he immediately purchased a site at Oak Ridge, Tenn., for facilities to separate the necessary uranium-235 from the much more common uranium-238. Uranium 235 was an optimal choice for the bomb because of its unusually unstable composition. Thus, the race to separate the two began. During that time, the work to perfect the firing mechanism and structure of the bomb was also swiftly underway. General Groves initial task had been to select a scientific director for the bomb project. His first two choices, Ernest O. Lawrence, director of the electromagnetic separation project, and Arthur H. Compton, director of Chicago Metallurgical Laboratory, were not available. Groves had some doubts regarding the next best candidate, J. Robert Oppenheimer (Wood 2). Finally, Groves gambled on Oppenheimer, a theoretical mathematician, as director of the weapons laboratory, built on an isolated mesa (flat land area) at Los Alamos, New Mexico. After much difficulty, an absorbent barrier suitable for separating isotopes of uranium was developed and installed in the Oak Ridge gaseous diffusion plant. Finally, in 1945, uranium-235 of bomb purity was shipped to Los Alamos, where it was fashioned into a gun-type weapon. In a barrel, one piece of uranium was fired at another, together forming a supercritical, explosive mass. To achieve chain-reaction fission, a certain amount of fissile material, called critical mass, is necessary. The fissile material used in the Hiroshima model was uranium 235. In the bomb, the uranium was divided into two parts, both of which were below critical mass. The bomb was designed so that one part would be slammed into the other by an explosive device to achieve critical mass instantaneously (Badash 238). When critical mass is achieved, continuous fission (a chain reaction) takes place in an extremely short period of time, and far more energy is released than in the case of a gun-powder explosion (Badash 238). On December 2, 1942, the first self-sustaining chain reaction with cadmium took place,

Galilleo essays

Galilleo essays Galileo Galilei was an astronomer and mathematician, he was, a man ahead of his time. Galileo discovered the law of uniformly accelerated motion towards the Earth, the parabolic path of projectiles, and the law that all bodies have weight. Among his other accomplishments was the improvement of the refracting telescope in 1610 and his advocacy of the Copernican theory which brought him into a conflict of ideas and truths between himself and the Inquisition. He was condemned by the church whose theories threatened everything that was taught by the priesthood as the holy truth and he was eventually broken by the Inquisition. Before being ultimately defeated by the church, however, Galileo made many contributions to the world of physics. His scientific discoveries and endeavors were only a portion of his contributions to the scientific community. His brilliance brought about a new era in scientific advancement and his defeat at the hands of the church put a stop to the scientific revolut ion which he had started. Galileo Galilei was a great scientist and pioneer in the fields of mechanics, astronomy, thermometry, and magnetism, although mechanics and astronomy were his main passions. He was arguably one of the brightest men who ever lived. Galileo discovered and enhanced many scientific discoveries of his time period and was highly regarded as a Mathematician and Natural Philosopher. Galileo was persecuted for his views on Earth's relationship with the rest of the heavens since he believed that the Earth revolved around the Sun and that the heavens were constantly changing and evolving. Since Galilei's vision of a metamorphosing universe came in direct conflict with the views of Aristotle, views held by and supported by the church, Galileo was eventually called before the Inquisition and forced to recant his views. Nonetheless, Galileo Galilei made significant contributions to the scientific community and he is remembered as a great scienti...

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Importance of employee satisfaction in an organization

Importance of employee satisfaction in an organization In the beginning, we are looking for the factor that influences job satisfaction among the workers/ front liner in SingTel. After that in the following chapter is about the review of the relevant literature. In chapter 3, we will looking for the method been use for this study and followed by chapter 4 is about the result and discussion from the analyses of data and findings of the research. And for the last chapter which is chapter 5, it summarized and recommend according to the finding and result. Job satisfaction is about the feeling of the nature of the job. In order for an organization to be successful, it must continuously ensure the satisfactorily of their employees (Berry, 1997). The happier the workers, the more satisfied they are. Besides, satisfied worker also a productive worker. Organization with more satisfied employees tends to be more effective (Robbins Judge, 2007). In todays world, organization realize that is it important to keep their worker satisfied as human recourse is the important assets for the organization to keep their business running. With satisfied workers, they will deliver the better quality service to the customer which indirectly will increase customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is important as it is essential in building long-term, profitable relationships ultimately leading to customer loyalty and repeat business. As for the workers, job satisfaction is important for the employees mental health (Smith, Kendall and Hulin, 1969). Upon study on job satisfaction, factor that influences the level of job satisfaction is vital to be addressed. They are many factors that influence level of job satisfaction such as the organization factor which may include working condition or anything that related to the working condition. For example: leadership style and pay. Besides working condition, personal factors such as health issue and family conflict. 1.2 Problem statement Human resources are the most valuable assets in an organization especially those high performing employees and it will be a trouble to company if those employees leaving or deliver bad service to their customer. One special issue is the low level of employee job satisfaction that brought difficulties in increasing service quality (Yi, 1993). Seta, Paulus and Baron (2000) pointed out that knowing the factors contributing to the employees satisfactions; the organization can plan properly and take appropriate step to increase positive behavior among employees. It means that organization or management need to prepare proper training or program such as reward, growth opportunities or job security in order to increase job satisfaction among the employees. According to malhotra Mukerjee (2004), Call centers facilitate flow of information and communication between firms and their remote customers via the telephone. According to Prahabkar, Sheehan, and Coppett (1997), call centers à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.allow a company to build, maintain, and manage customer relationships by solving problems and resolving complaints quickly. Front liners who work in call centre have to answer call from customer 24 hour a day throughout 365 days in a year. As a front lines, this job full with challenge and stress. They need to manage their emotion very well in order to deliver good services to customer. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the workers are satisfied with their current job scope. Holman et al.s (2007) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.number of call center employees stood at 450,000. This is quite a huge amount in this communicating field. According to Zeithml Bitner (2000), since the customer contact employees or popularly known as the call center agents are the link between the entire organization and the external customer, so they are able to influence the perception of the customer to the organization. From the previous study, there was evidence in between job satisfaction and performance deliver by the front liners. Therefore, the research tries to find out the link between the job satisfaction and organization factors and also the personal factor. 1.3 Research Questions The research questions will be: 1.3.1 To what extent is the influence of work conditions on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.2 To what extent is the influence of promotion on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.3 To what extent is the influence of gender on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.3.4 To what extent is the influence of age on job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel? 1.4 Research Objectives Based on the above research questions, this study intends to achieve the specific research objectives: 1.4.1 To determine the influence of work conditions on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.2 To examine the influence of promotion on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.3 To investigate the influence of gender on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.4.4 To determine the influence of age on employee job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 1.5 Significance of the study There are many studies revealed the factors that may affect job satisfaction but they are related to all aspect for the job satisfaction. The employee satisfaction theory (Vroom, 1964) and (Herzberg, 1966) employee satisfaction measurement tools, as well as Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (Abraham Maslow, 1943), but there are rarely study regarding factors that may contribute to job satisfaction in call centre in Malaysia. In Malaysia, call center are growing in a rapidly rate. There are many communication company increases the intake of the call center agent or in the other ways knows as front-liners. From this point of view, it is important for us to study on the front-liners job satisfaction. Since the number of employed for the front-liners are growing, through the study, it help the organization to understand what is the need for the entire front-liners, what is their basic request. Through this study, it help organization to knowing better on what is the benefit that they can provide for them for satisfaction and at the same time organization can deliver a good services to the customer. Apart from that, this is a way to send out the messages for those who desire to work in this field. It is also information to the public who always complaining or disputing about the customer services staff without knowing their sacrifice. 1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study The scope of the study is to study the link between the job satisfaction and organization factors and also the personal factor in Sing Tel. These include work condition, leadership style, promotion, gender, personality and individual experience. The study limited only to the front-liners in Sing Tel. 1.7 Organization of the Research Project This study consists of five chapters which are introduction, literature review, methodology, result and discussion followed by conclusion and recommendation. Each chapter will discuss in depth later. In chapter 1, we are looking for the factor that influences job satisfaction among the workers/ front liner in SingTel. After that in the following chapter is about the review of the relevant literature. Chapter 3, we will look for the method been use for this study and followed by chapter 4 is about the result and discussion from the analyses of data and findings of the research. And for the last chapter which is chapter 5, it summarized and recommend according to the finding and result. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction This chapter will discuss about the job satisfaction in several perspectives. It is includes definition of job satisfaction, previous studies on job satisfaction and the factors that influence the job satisfaction. A part from this, it is also a brief discussion regarding the job satisfaction among the staff in call center. And it ends with a brief summary for this chapter. 2.2 Job Satisfaction According to Steyn Van Wyk (1999), job satisfaction can be formally defined as the degree to which individuals feel positively and/or negatively about their jobs. From this, when an employee meets their needs or expectation, then they will feel the accomplishment and from here the degree of satisfaction can be determine. Gordon (1999) claims that job satisfaction occurs when a job meets the expectations, values and standards of an individual and will influence their commitment and performance. So from here, it is how an organization gets satisfied their workers in order to get their commitment to performed well. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs was proposed by Abraham Maslow in 1943 from his paper A Theory of Human Motivation. According to Maslow, people are not satisfied with what they have and will always request for more. From the hierarchy, they are five level can be found in each individual which is physical, security, social, ego and self-actualization. Physical needs are the base from the hierarchy. It includes the basic human needs such as the need for air, water, food, exercise and freedom form diseases. It is commonly achieve by the human being. Once this basic is achieved, then they will go for the other level which is the security. This level includes the need of safety, shelter and stability. In term of the working environment, it means that an employee may demand for the job security, they can have a stabile job, being treated fairly and have a good pay for their job. The third phase is the social, it includes the need of being loves, and they experience the feeling of belonging and inclusion. In the work place, the employee need to feel the sense of belonging and acceptance, once they have this feeling, it helps them to achieve the satisfaction on this level. Let say ones cannot fulfill this level, for example maybe he or she facing problem in their marriage; it will lead to fail on this level. After fulfill this level, it comes to another level which is the ego or known as self-esteem and follow by the highest level which is the self-actualization. Figure1. Maslows Job Hierarchy of Needs Model 2.3 Work Condition According to Stallworth and Kleiner (1996) increasingly an organizations physical layout is designed around employee needs in order to maximize productivity and satisfaction. Employee would prefer to work in an organization which can provide better physical comfort and convenience. With a better environment, it can reduce the unsatisfied feeling of the employees. According to Robbins (2001), working conditions will influence job satisfaction, as employees are concerned with a comfortable physical work environment. 2.4 Promotion A study conduct by Ellickson and Logsdon (2002) claim that with municipal government workers where satisfaction with promotional opportunities was found to be positively and significantly related to job satisfaction. The chances to get promotion have a strong effect on the employee job satisfaction. From the study, the management can take notes that promotion can always be a motivation tools for them to ensure the employee can achieve their goals. 2.5 Gender Gender is one of the demographic characteristic that researchers always investigated the relationship with the job satisfaction. Shahri (2001) found that male managers were more satisfied with their jobs than female managers in upper level management. From the study of Tang and Talpade (1999), it found that men tend to have higher satisfaction with remuneration in relation to females, while females tended to have higher satisfaction with co-workers than males. From the previous study, it shows that the job satisfaction effected by the gender. 2.6 Age Most of the studies found the existing relationship between age and job satisfaction. According to the study done by Drafke and Kossen (2002), it shows that older employee with more working experience are more satisfied compare with younger employee, the study also claim that job satisfaction increase with age. Greenberg and Baron (1995) claims that generally older employees are more satisfied with their job compare with younger employee. From the reviews, it shows that age play a role in the employees job satisfaction. 2.7 Research Framework The purpose of this study is to determine the factors affect the job satisfaction in call center. This part is regarding the discussion that forming the theoretical framework. It is based on the previous studies that had been review. There are two independents variables, which consist of the personal factors and the organizational factors. The personal factors includes gender and age, meanwhile the organizational factors includes work condition and promotion. Figure 2 shows the theoretical framework for the study. Organizational Factors Work condition promotion Job satisfaction Personal Factors Gender Age Figure 2 Theoretical Framework 2.8 Summary This chapter has discussed about the factors that influence the job satisfaction. This was discussing clearly with different researchers and theorist. The Maslows Hierarchy of Needs also reviewed as this theory related with the research topic. It is good for management to understand the factors that influence the job satisfaction. It helps organization to indentify those factors and avoid the mistake. . CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Hypotheses statement Hypothesis 1 Ho: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 2 Ho: There is positive relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 3 Ho: There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Hypothesis 4 Ho: There is positive relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. 3.2 Research Design There are a lots of research method to use to analyze job satisfaction. There is no single method or the most appropriate on it. According to Punch (1998) each approach has it strength and weaknesses. When we understand each of the strength and weaknesses, we can select or combine the approach. This study used quantitative methods involving survey questionnaires to collect the quantitative data. The purpose is to determine whether there is a correlation between the personal and organizational factors with the job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) was used to measure the level of job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. The Job in General (JIG) also used to measure the overall job satisfaction. 3.3 Research Sample The present number of all the front liners in Sing Tel consists of 210 employees. Therefore, the sample was selected randomly from a total of 50 respondents that able to facilitate the objectives of the study. This sample size was according to the Roscoes rule of thumb (cited in Sekaran, 2003) which is stated that sample larger than 30 and less than 500 is appropriate for most research. 3.4 Research Instrument The Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job in General (JIG) were used to measure the job satisfaction. The job descriptive index (JDI), created by Smith, Kendall, Hulin(1989), is a specific questionnaire of job satisfaction that has been widely used. It measures ones satisfaction in five dimensions such as: pay, promotion and promotion opportunities, relationship with coworkers, supervision, and the work itself. The General Job Index is an overall measurement of job satisfaction. It was an improvement on the job descriptive index because the JDI focused too much on work 33 satisfaction. The questionnaire consists 3 parts. The first part related to the personal factors in Sing Tel, the second part is regarding the job satisfaction of the front liners in Sing Tel and last part is about the organizational factors that affect job satisfaction. 3.5 Data Collection Procedures As this is my previous company, so I will distribute the questionnaire to my ex-colleague. The questionnaires were answered by the respondents by following the instructions for each section. The questionnaire will be collected after all the respondents had answered it. 3.6 Data Analysis Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) computer software program (version 12) was use to analyzed all the data that collected from the respondents. Descriptive analysis was used to explore the data collected as well as summarizing and describing the data. For this study, it was use to describe the gender and age. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND FINDINGS 4.1 Introduction This chapter reveals and reports the findings from the study of job satisfaction among workers/ front liner in SingTel. Fifty sets of questionnaire were distributed as mentioned in the research methodology. They were processed and analyzed using SPSS Package Program (Version 12) and the results are presented in tables. The first section will provide the background of the respondents. The second section will then provide the reliability of the variables. The third section will present the correlation analysis with regards to the relationship of the independent variables in influencing the dependent variable. 4.2 Frequency Analysis 4.2.1 Gender Statistics Gender N Valid 50 Missing 0 Gender Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid male 24 48.0 48.0 48.0 female 26 52.0 52.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.1: Gender Table 4.2.1 shows the frequency distribution for gender composition. As stated previously, the total respondents for this study was 50. From the total respondents, 26 (52%) respondents were female while 24 (48%) of the respondents were male. 4.2.2 Age Age N Valid 50 Missing 0 Age Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid 19-29 14 28.0 28.0 28.0 30-39 21 42.0 42.0 70.0 40-49 12 24.0 24.0 94.0 50-60 3 6.0 6.0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.2 Age By referring to the table 4.2.2 above, the majority of the respondents were between 30 to 39 years old (42%), the second highest of the respondents were in the range of 19 to 29 years old (14%) followed by the respondents in the range 40 to 49 years old (12%) and finally the least was 50 to 60 years old group with 6%. 4.2.3 Overall Satisfaction Overall Satisfaction N Valid 50 Missing 0 Overall Satisfaction Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid Not Satisfied Slightly 0 0 0 0 Satisfied 12 24.0 24.0 24.0 Moderately Satisfied 32 64.0 64.0 88.0 Satisfied 6 12.0 12.0 100.0 Very satisfied 0 0 0 100.0 Total 50 100.0 100.0 Table 4.2.3 Overall Satisfaction From the result of table 4.2.3, there are 32 respondent out of 50 is moderately satisfied with the overall satisfaction (64%), there are 12 respondents who are slightly satisfied with the overall satisfaction (24%) and only 6 respondents are satisfied with the overall satisfaction (12%). From this result, it concludes that most of the Sing Tel Front-liner only moderately satisfied with their current condition. 4.3 Level of Job Satisfaction Job Descriptive Index (JDI) and Job In General (JIG) are used to measure job satisfaction in this research. The level of JDI and JIG and also others variable are measured by using the mean. The levels of perception to all variable are group into two categories as per below: Mean Std. Deviation JDI JIG 3.67 0.48 Work Condition 3.51 0.69 Promotion 3.21 0.69 Table 4.3 Level of Job Satisfaction, Work Condition and Promotion Table 4.3 shows that the level of job satisfaction of the respondents is high with mean=3.67 and sd=0.48. Respondents also perceived that their level of work condition is also high with a mean=3.51 and sd=0.69. However, there was a moderate level of perception towards promotion with a mean=3.21 and sd=0.69. 4.4 Relationship between Job Satisfaction, Age and Gender Pearson correlation (r) was used to test the relationship between job satisfaction, age and gender. The results are shown in table 4.3 below. Correlations tjs gender age tjs Pearson Correlation 1 .138 -.152 Sig. (2-tailed) . .338 .292 N 50 50 50 gender Pearson Correlation .138 1 -.004 Sig. (2-tailed) .338 . .980 N 50 50 50 age Pearson Correlation -.152 -.004 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .292 .980 . N 50 50 50 Table 4.4 It can be seen in the table 4.4, there is a positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction. but it is not significantly related to job satisfaction (r=0.138, p for gender is 0.138). Based on the result, it can be seen a negative relationship between age and job satisfaction at r=-0.152 but again it is not significantly related to job satisfaction (p for age is 0.292). 4.5 Relationship between Job Satisfaction, Work Condition and Promotion Table 4.5 shows the correlation matrix output of job satisfaction, work condition and promotion. Correlations tjs twc tp tjs Pearson Correlation 1 -.137 -.499(**) Sig. (2-tailed) . .343 .000 N 50 50 50 twc Pearson Correlation -.137 1 .620(**) Sig. (2-tailed) .343 . .000 N 50 50 50 tp Pearson Correlation -.499(**) .620(**) 1 Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000 . N 50 50 50 ** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Table 4.5 It is found that job satisfaction is not significantly related to work condition but with a negative relationship(r=-0.137, p for work condition is 0.343). While for the promotion, the result shows that promotion is significantly related to job satisfaction and with a negative relationship(r=-0.499, p for promotion is 0.000). 4.6 Relationship between Job Satisfaction and Gender T-test was used in the analyses of statistically significant gender. Group Statistics gender N Mean Std. Deviation Std. Error Mean tjs male 24 3.7262 .28546 .05827 female 26 3.7692 .27724 .05437 Independent Samples Test Levenes Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means F Sig. t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference Std. Error Difference 95% Confidence Interval of the Difference Lower tjs Equal variances assumed .157 .694 -.541 48 .591 -.04304 .07960 -.20309 Equal variances not assumed -.540 47.417 .592 -.04304 .07970 -.20333 Table 4.6 There were no statistically differences in the overall perception between the respondents group according to gender as for male, mean=3.72 and for female, mean=3.77. From the result, it shows that gender is not statistically significant in the perception of affecting front-liners in Sing tel. Regression Analysis Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Correlations Collinearity Statistics B Std. Error Beta Zero-order Partial Part Tolerance 1 (Constant) 4.622 .422 10.965 .000 twc .199 .135 .232 1.473 .148 -.137 .214 .178 .591 tp -.443 .104 -.677 -4.283 .000 -.499 -.538 -.518 .586 tgender .012 .068 .021 .172 .864 .138 .026 .021 .953 tage -.068 .039 -.217 -1.743 .088 -.152 -.251 -.211 .944 a Dependent Variable: tjs Table 4.6.1 Based on the result from table 4.6.1, it shows: Job Satisfaction= 4.622+0.199(twc)-0.443(tp) +0.012(tgender)-0.068(tage) From this equation, it shows there is a positive relationship between work condition, gender and job satisfaction but not significant while relationship between age and job satisfaction is negative and significant. Only promotion is significantly related to job satisfaction with negative relationship. 4.7 Summary of Hypotheses Test Hypothesis 1 Ho: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, accept Ho reject H1. Hypothesis 2 Ho: There is positive relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, reject Ho accept H1. Hypothesis 3 Ho: There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, accept Ho reject H1. Hypothesis 4 Ho: There is positive relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. H1: There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. Therefore, reject Ho accept H1. 4.8 Conclusion This chapter presents the results of the statistical analysis of the hypotheses. Correlation analysis was used to test the relationship among the variables of interest provided in the study. This study revealed that: There is positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is negative relationship between promotion and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is positive relationship between gender and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. There is negative relationship between age and job satisfaction among the front liners in Sing Tel. CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 INTRODUCTION In order for an organization to be successful, it must continuously ensure the satisfactorily of their employees (Berry, 1997). In todays world, organization realize that is it important to keep their worker satisfied as human recourse is the important assets for the organization to keep their business running. In this study, employee satisfaction is pivotal to Sing Tel in order to deliver good services to their customer and also become more competitive. From the finding of this study, it is revealed that the job satisfaction of the employer is high. Promotion is the most influence factors compared to others. It is also revealed that the relationship between gender and job satisfaction is no significant. 5.2 Discussion of the Research Findings This study is about factors that influence job satisfaction in Sing Tel front-liner. A satisfied employee will deliver good service to the customer and increase company image. Based on the results, it shows that work condition and promotion are the key factors that influence a employee satisfaction. 5.2.1 Research Question One The first research question of this study was to identify what is the relationship for the organizational factors such as work condition and promotion influence the employee job satisfaction. Based on the results, it shows a positive relationship between work condition and job satisfaction. Arnold and Feldman (1996) promoted factors such as temperature, lighting, ventilation, noise, working hours, and resources from all types of working conditions. Since their job is mentally demanding, so a poor working condition will influence Sing Tel front-liner to perform their job. Besides, the physical design of the work place also has certain impact on job satisfaction. A better working environment and work condition can increase employee job

Disease Caused by Environmental Exposure Essay

Environmental Diseases In epidemiology, environmental disease is disease caused by environmental factors that are not transmitted genetically or by infection. Apart from the true monogenic genetic disorders, environmental diseases may determine the development of disease in those genetically predisposed to a particular condition. Stress, physical and mental abuse, diet, exposure to toxins, pathogens, radiation, and chemicals found in almost all personal care products and household cleaners are possible causes of a large segment of non-hereditary disease. If a disease process is concluded to be the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factor influences, its etiological origin can be referred to as having a multifactorial pattern. There are many different types of environmental disease including: * Lifestyle disease such as cardiovascular disease, diseases caused by substance abuse such as alcoholism, and smoking-related disease * Disease caused by physical factors in the environment, such as skin cancer caused by excessive exposure to ultraviolet radiation in sunlight * Disease caused by exposure to chemicals in the environment such as toxic metals * These diseases can also be mutated and can thrive in the unnatural environment through rubbish that isn’t discarded and no sewerage systems. These factors can hurt a nation or an individual quite easily. ————————————————- Categories of environmental disease * First, there are those caused by the ancient metals: lead and mercury. * Then there are those caused by the other metals: arsenic, phosphorus, and zinc. * The newer metals can also cause environmental disease: beryllium, cadmium, chromium, manganese, nickel, cobalt, osmium, platinum, selenium, tellurium, thallium, uranium, and vanadium. * Additionally, there are environmental diseases caused by the aromatic carbon compounds including : benzene, hexachlorocyclohexane, toluene diisocyanate, phenol, pentachlorophenol,quinone and hydroquinone. Also included are the aromatic nitro-, amino-, and pyridilium-deratives: nitrobenzene, dinitrobenzene, trinitrotoluene, paramethylaminophenol sulfate (Metol), dinitro-ortho-cresol, aniline,trinitrophenylmethylnitramine (tetryl), hexanitrodiphenylamine (aurantia), phenylenediamine[disambiguation needed], and parquet. The aliphatic carbon compounds can also cause environmental disease. Included in these are methanol, nitroglycerine, nitrocellulose, dimethylnitrosamine, and the halogenated hydrocarbons: methyl, methyl bromide, trichloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride, and the chlorinated naphthalene. Also included are glycols: ethylene chlorohydrins and diethylene dioxide as well as carbon, acrylonitrile, acryl amide, and vinyl chloride. * Other important chemical causes of environmental diseases are the noxious gases which can be categorized as: Simple asphyxiates, chemical asphyxiates, and irritant gases. The simple asphixiants are nitrogen, methane, and carbon dioxide. The chemical asphyxiates are carbon monoxide, sulfuretted hydrogen and hydrogen cyanide. The irritant gases are sulfur dioxide, ammonia, nitrogen dioxide, chlorine, phosgene, and fluorine and its compounds, which include luroine and hydrofluoric acid, fluorspar, fluorapatite, cryolite, and organic fluorine compounds. While many infectious diseases are caused by human-to-human transmission, others are caused by microorganisms that exist in the outside environment. Scientists from a variety of fields, including medicine and the environment, must work together to address the challenges posed by these environmental pathogens, according to a new report, From Outside to Inside: Environmental Microorganisms as Human Pathogens, released today by the American Academy of Microbiology. â€Å"The key difference between environmental pathogens and other human pathogens is their ability to survive and thrive outside the host. Their widespread occurrence in the environment makes them difficult to monitor and control,† says Gerard Cangelosi of theSeattle Biomedical Research Institute at the University of Washington, one of the authors of the report. â€Å"The fields of medical and environmental microbiology need to be better integrated to stimulate the type of work that is required to combat environmenta l pathogens effectively, and the development and improvement of surveillance and reporting strategies should be a top priority.† Environmental pathogens are defined as microorganisms that normally spend a substantial part of their lifecycle outside human hosts, but when introduced to humans cause disease with measurable frequency. They are carried in the water, soil, air, food and other parts of the environment and can affect almost every individual on the planet. Some examples of environmental pathogens include Legionella pneumophila (the cause of Legionnaires disease, often found in air conditioning systems), West Nile virus, and Cryptosporidium parvum (a parasite that can be found in food, drinking water and recreational waters). In addition to better integration of medical and environmental research, the report recommends more effective monitoring of pathogens in the environment to allow researchers to better understand the incidence and persistence of pathogens in areas that are considered to be at risk for harboring these organisms. Multidisciplinary research must also be fostered to better predict how changes in the environment may affect the frequency of environmental diseases. â€Å"These threats to human health can only be assessed in a comprehensive multidisciplinary context in which ecology, epidemiology, and emerging areas in environmental engineering and microbiology are integrated. This combined approach can yield immediate and long-term health benefits by mitigating established environmental risks, identifying risky situations for disease emerging and finding the causes of diseases of unknown etiology,† says Cangelosi. The report is the result of a colloquium convened by the Academy in February 2004 to discuss environmental pathogens and the current state of research on these organisms. Scientists with expertise in infectious diseases, food microbiology, bacteriology, molecular, microbial ecology, pathogenic mycology and other areas in the microbiological sciences participated. Participants considered the knowledge gaps related to the incidence and epidemiology of environmental infectious diseases, dynamics of human pathogens in the environment, ways to alleviate environmental infectious diseases, research needs in the field and education and communication issues. ————————————————- Causes of Environmental diseases Environmental diseases are caused by chemical agents, radiation, and physical hazards. The effects of exposure, in both natural and work settings, are greatly influenced by the exposure routes: primarily air pollution and water pollution, contaminated food, and direct contact with toxins. Synergistic affects—two or more toxic exposures acting together—are also important, as illustrated by the greatly increased risk of lung cancer in asbestos workers who smoke cigarettes. The potential interaction of multiple hazardous chemicals at toxic waste dumps poses a current public health problem that is of unknown dimensions. Industrial society has introduced or increased human exposure to thousands of chemicals in the environment. Examples are inorganic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, and asbestos, and organic substances such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), vinyl chloride, and the pesticide DDT. Of particular concern is the delayed potential for these chemicals to produce cancer, as in the cases of lung cancer and mesothelioma caused by asbestos, liver cancer caused by vinyl chloride, and leukemia caused by benzene. Minamata disease, caused by food contaminated with mercury, and Yusho disease, from food contaminated with chlorinated furans, are examples of acute toxic illnesses occurring in nonoccupational settings. The full toxic potential of most environmental chemicals has not been completely tested. The extent and frequency of an illness are related to the dose of toxin, in degrees depending on the toxin. For chronic or delayed effects such as cancer or adverse reproductive effects, no â€Å"safe† dose threshold may exist below which disease is not produced.