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This paper provides an overview of some of the main environmental threats to human health and discusses the need for improving information required for decision making at all levels. Issues related to measuring and monitoring the effect of the environment on health and well-being are also raised. The paper likewise draws attention to the key role of indicators for the monitoring and assessment of policies. Although monitoring systems cannot replace policies and actions directly aimed at improving environmental health conditions, such systems should nonetheless form an intrinsic part of the decision-making process from the very beginning. Governments are increasingly recurring to quantitative targets and benchmarks as a way of enhancing credibility, and indicator development and performance monitoring have become integral to the overall planning process and good governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]