1. Assessing environmental health risks and setting priorities 
2. Modeling the environmental burden of disease
3. Identifying, assessing and prioritizing risk management strategies.

Step 1: Assess environmental health risks and set priorities

The research team will first compile and analyze available information about environmental health risks in the UAE.

Among the risk areas to be studied in Step 1 are ambient and indoor air pollution, potable and recreational water, soil contamination, food contaminants, work site-related hazards, electromagnetic fields, noise, ozone layer depletion, and climate change.

The UNC-led team will prepare summary information on each of those risk areas. The summary sheets will be organized and presented at a series of workshops to be held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai involving stakeholders from around the UAE. Using the summary information and a structured, deliberative process, the UAE stakeholders will identify the top priority environmental health risks. Setting those priorities will help the research team focus their planning for the national environmental health strategy.

...for more details (PDF)

Step 2: Model the environmental burden of disease

The research team will develop computer models that estimate the number of illnesses and deaths that can be attributed to environmental risk factors in the UAE each year.

Among the hazards to be studied in Step 2 are indoor and outdoor air pollutants, potable water pollutants, and occupational hazards.

The computer models will estimate exposure of the UAE population to each of those priority risks and estimate the resulting number of illnesses and deaths expected to result from these exposures.

...for more details (PDF)

Step 3: Identify, assess and prioritize risk management strategies

The research team will

• Identify possible actions for reducing environmental harm to human health, and identify their potential effectiveness 
• Work with UAE policymakers and researchers and others to rank these risk management strategies 
• Propose a 10-year strategic plan describing actions that could be taken to reduce environmental harm to human health in the UAE in the long term 
• Propose a four-year action plan describing near-term actions that could be taken to reduce environmental harm to human health in the UAE.

...for more details (PDF)