Estimating the impact of oceans on human health: The value of taking a burden of disease approach

This chapter considers an approach used in providing comprehensive assessments of the contribution of oceans to human health. The global burden of disease approach highlights the scale of the impact of oceans on human health, as well as provides a rational basis for building the evidence base and filling the most important policy-relevant evidence and data gaps. This approach facilitates the identification of the contribution of various factors related to coastal communities, seas, and oceans compared with other risks and benefits more normally considered in public health policy. This provides a much-needed quantitative input for setting priorities for policy and practice aimed at improving and protecting health. The approach can potentially increase awareness of the links between oceans and human health, and provide additional supportive evidence for measures to protect and preserve marine environments. The chapter reviews how the approach has been used and could be more widely applied in the future in relation to factors associated with the marine environment.