Public Health and Sustainable Development: Justice, Inclusivity, and Financing for a Resilient Future

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on current research and scholarship relating public health to sustainable development.  Promoting human health and well-being for a sustainable future requires development to be just, equitable, and inclusive. The outbreak of COVID-19 has presented major challenges for disease control, and outbreaks from other emerging infectious diseases can be expected in the future. The resilience of health systems that can respond quickly to emerging diseases while maintaining other essential health services are critical for sustainable development in a context of human health. Indeed, sustainable development has been defined as meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the needs of future generations. This Special Issue will supplement existing literature by exploring ways that planning and governance can be structured and strategized to produce positive health outcomes. Situations we face include how to control the spread of infectious disease in an increasingly urbanized world, assure clean water supply for healthy populations, build sustainable transportation systems, and implement appropriate fuel policies to ensure clean air, water, and soil. Especially in Low-to-Middle-Income Countries, several transitions are occurring to ensure sustainable development of health: a demographic transition, a disease burden transition, donor financing, and a domestic financing trransition. Contributors to this Special Issue are invited to share their research on innovative approaches to sustainable development for human health protection and health promotion. This would include: health system reform, transboundary pollution analysis, systems modeling, mitigation of health impacts of flooding and natural disasters, and reduction of harmful effects of water and air pollution.   Other examples may include designing cities for safety, addressing sustainable use of the world oceans, and controlling deforestation. Papers are certainly welcome which combine social, economic, and environmental perspectives to promote health. Articles which help promote human health and longevity through education, innovative development, and environmental justice are also welcome. Manuscripts are sought that address supporting ecosystems that promote healthy diets, mitigating climate risks, providing safe water and sanitation to prevent disease, addressing poverty, reducing premature mortality from non-communicable diseases, and reducing hunger. It is anticipated that manuscripts will address a range of health issues covering the following: transportation to reduce injury and likelihood of death, maternal health, equitable waste management policies, clean energy production, climate resilience, and emergency preparedness/response.

Dr. David Turbow
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.