The findings arrive at a time when climate change, air pollution, and environmental degradation continue to threaten public health worldwide. According to the review, environmental risks disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, where institutional capacity and policy coordination are often weaker. The authors argue that improving governance—not merely introducing new environmental regulations—is essential for protecting public health and achieving sustainable development.
Environmental Policy and Health Are Closely Connected
Environmental quality directly influences human health through cleaner air, safe drinking water, healthier ecosystems, and reduced exposure to pollution. However, environmental management and health policy are frequently administered by different government institutions, creating fragmented decision-making and limiting policy effectiveness.
The review identifies this disconnect as one of the greatest barriers to improving population health. Instead of treating environmental protection and healthcare as separate policy areas, governments should integrate them through coordinated governance structures and shared policy objectives.
Reviewing Global Evidence
To examine how governance influences environmental health outcomes, the researchers conducted a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) following the internationally recognized PRISMA 2020 guidelines.
The review began with 312 scientific publications collected from five major academic databases:
- Scopus
- Web of Science
- ScienceDirect
- Springer Link
- Taylor & Francis
After a rigorous screening process, 52 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2020 and 2024 met the study's quality and relevance criteria. Rather than conducting new field research, the authors synthesized findings from these studies to identify consistent governance patterns, implementation barriers, and successful policy innovations across different countries.
Five Major Findings
The review identifies five consistent conclusions that emerge across the international literature.
1. Institutional fragmentation remains the biggest governance challenge.
Poor coordination among ministries, government agencies, and different levels of government weakens environmental policy implementation. The review identifies vertical, horizontal, and temporal fragmentation as the most common administrative barriers preventing effective environmental-health governance.
2. Collaborative governance improves policy effectiveness.
Policies are more successful when governments work together with universities, civil society organizations, communities, and the private sector. However, collaboration succeeds only when responsibilities are clearly defined, political commitment is sustained, and accountability mechanisms are in place.
3. Community participation promotes health equity.
Communities that actively participate in environmental decision-making achieve better environmental health outcomes than those limited to formal consultation processes. Genuine co-governance allows residents to influence environmental monitoring, policy design, and implementation.
4. Digital governance strengthens environmental monitoring.
The growing use of integrated environmental-health information systems, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), artificial intelligence, and real-time monitoring enables governments to respond more quickly to emerging environmental health risks. Nevertheless, the study warns that digital technologies must be designed equitably to avoid reinforcing existing social inequalities.
5. Climate policy delivers important public health benefits.
Climate mitigation strategies—particularly reducing emissions from energy, transportation, and agriculture—not only address climate change but also improve air quality and reduce disease. Despite these co-benefits, public health considerations remain underrepresented in many climate governance frameworks.
A New Framework for Understanding Governance Failures
One of the study's most significant contributions is the development of a six-dimensional governance failure typology that explains why environmental policies often fail to improve health outcomes.
The framework identifies six recurring governance failures:
- Institutional fragmentation
- Regulatory capture by industry interests
- Limited administrative capacity
- Exclusion of affected communities from decision-making
- Policy discontinuity across political administrations
- Separation between environmental monitoring and public health data
According to the authors, these failures rarely occur independently. Weak institutional capacity often limits environmental monitoring, while insufficient environmental data makes it difficult to establish clear links between pollution and disease. This creates delays in government responses and weakens regulatory enforcement.
Implications for Governments and Policymakers
The review recommends that governments adopt more integrated approaches to environmental governance.
Among the key policy recommendations are:
- Establish formal environmental-health coordination bodies across government agencies.
- Strengthen safeguards against regulatory capture.
- Require Health in All Policies and Health Impact Assessments for major environmental policies.
- Expand meaningful public participation through community co-governance.
- Develop equitable digital governance systems that integrate environmental and health data.
- Incorporate public health co-benefits into national climate strategies.
The findings are particularly relevant for developing countries, where environmental health burdens are often greatest while governance capacity remains limited.
As Dr. Askar Mayusa and his colleagues from Tadulako University emphasize throughout the review, environmental governance should be understood as part of society's health equity infrastructure. Improving institutional coordination, strengthening community participation, and integrating environmental and health policies can help governments reduce inequality while protecting public health.
Author Profile
Askar Mayusa is a lecturer in the Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Tadulako University, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia. His research focuses on public administration, public governance, environmental policy, and institutional reform.
The study was co-authored by Syarif Permana Salingkat, also from the Department of Public Administration, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Tadulako University, and Uli Chrisrantowe Molano from the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Tadulako University. Together, their work explores the intersection of environmental governance, public administration, and population health.
Source
Mayusa, A., Salingkat, S. P., & Molano, U. C. (2026). Environmental Policy and Public Health: A Systematic Literature Review in Public Administration Perspective. Journal of Social Interactions and Humanities (JSIH), 5(2), 159–178. DOI: 10.55927/jsih.v5i2.11.
0 Komentar