Concerning Health Issues of Special Populations:Prevention and Control of Hazard Factors Related to Social Environment and Behavior

The priority purpose of environmental and occupational health is to identify, control, evaluate and predict harmful factors in environment and workplaces under unfit conditions and to consider the effects of social environmental factors on public health, and then to adopt comprehensive measures in order to prevent impairment to human health.The definition of "Health" was already stipulated by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1946 when it was set up and defined as "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity".However, the concept of "Health" is changing and developing with the economic and industrial progress, with the awareness of green environment, with the new patterns of living style and with the deepened recognition of medical pattern changes.Hence the social environmental and behavioral factors are playing important roles in disease occurrence and development.Especially, after entering the second half of the 20^th century and the 21^st century, the focus of public health is no longer restricted to infectious diseases and relevant damage factors in environment, but extends to chronic diseases, HIV/AIDS, medical care system, reproductive health, violent action, psychological and behavioral status and health promotion.In fact, bad living style and its related diseases in developed countries and costal areas of China have become a predominant cause of death, such as smoking, alcoholism, drug abuse, unsafe sexual behavior, heavily stress, obesity and psychological diseases, etc.Those bad factors (including physical, chemical, biological, psychological and living factors from natural and social environment) usually exist in public places or occupational places, which should be immediately found, and in tervention strategies should be further investigated and provided to meet with the 21^st century strategic goal of creating health cities, health islands and health places.The World Expo 2010 Shanghai has been closed but its theme "Better City, Better Life" is forever one of the important goals of the era.Especially, the Shanghai Municipal Government has called on to build Shanghai into a health city to let all residents enjoy a healthy life.However, AIDS has potentially impacted the health of people in Shanghai as one of the serious infectious diseases;of course, the disease is also an undeniable health issue for different groups of labor, service and activity in public and occupational places.Because Shanghai as one of the largest cities of China is now constructing "Four Centers' with great efforts, a large amount of floating people are naturally entering the city, who are devoting their great efforts to the construction and service of Shanghai.In the meantime, the rapid change of their living environment and conditions has inevitably made them vulnerable to HIV/AIDS and other harmful factors.The rates for AIDS knowledge, self-protection ability, unsafe sexual behavior status, requirement of and access to medical service, discrimination and stigma among a certain amount of them are eagerly in vestigated so that the direct strategy for health intervention could be made.Thus, the studies and discussions on the people in construction sites, entertainment places and other public places and their health issues related to AIDS are commonly concerned by medical staff on the environmental and occupational frontline.