European Youth Focus of Environmental Health Action Plan

By Alexandru R. Savulescu

BUDAPEST, Hungary, June 25, 2004 (ENS) - Air pollution affects the unborn, with damaging effects on children's health later in life, says an expert group of public health scientists from Europe and North America convened by the World Health Organization.

The panel presented its findings to ministers of health and environment from 52 countries in the European region gathered here this week for a World Health Organization (WHO) conference on children's health. Meeting for the first time in five years, their goal is to negotiate and adopt an action plan to improve the health of young people.

The expert panel's new review of data published since 1994 shows a causal link between air pollution and respiratory deaths in infants. The panel found a one percent increase in children's risk of mortality due to respiratory causes attributed to air pollution exposure.

Because exposure is so common, this small increase places large numbers of children at risk and, according to the authors, is the "tip of an iceberg hiding a far bigger problem" related to aggravated asthma episodes, increased incidence of cough and bronchitis, greater susceptibility in adulthood to the effects of aging and infection, tobacco smoke and occupational contaminants.

Exposure to air pollution from traffic puts children at risk of respiratory illness. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

"It is unacceptable from every point of view that the most vulnerable members of a society should be the ones who pay the price for failures to protect health from environmental dangers," says WHO Director-General Dr. Lee Jong-wook.

"Early childhood development affects health throughout life, so the whole society suffers from the damage done to children's health," he said. "This conference provides an excellent opportunity to apply what can be done and agree on how to do it."

A parallel Healthy Planet Forum, organized by nongovernmental organizations, is also underway in Budapest.

Young people are involved in both events. The official delegates to the conference include special youth delegates under the age of 19, and they will join other young people at a youth forum and parliament. Young communicators and representatives from the European Network of Health Promoting Schools also are present.

Dr. Mihály Kökény, Hungarian minister of health, social and family affairs, said his country, one of the 10 new EU member states, envisions its future "as a healthy country in a healthy world," and he said Hungary "is ready to take action to achieve its aim and to collaborate with all those who share in this mission."

"We must start work, without any further delay, to protect future generations from environmental hazards," said Kökény.

Hungarian Environment Minister Dr. Miklós Persányi (Photo courtesy Government of Hungary)

But a book launched at the conference takes issue with that position, claiming that environmentally related health issues are exaggerated by activists for their own political agenda.

Published by the International Policy Network, an industry supported UK charity and think tank, "Environment & Health: Myths & Realities," challenges the idea that human health problems such as cancer are caused and aggravated by modern industrial society. It was launched at the conference in conjunction with the "Budapest Business Journal."

In the book, 10 scientists analyze key environment and health issues being discussed at the WHO conference and conclude that many environment and health risks have been exaggerated, to the detriment of scientific research and public policy.

"If countries are to prioritize efforts to promote human health and sustainable development, risks must be evaluated relative to one another," says Julian Morris, one of the book’s co-editors. "The risks for humans who live in poverty are different, and generally far greater, than those that result from modern technologies and modern industrial society."

For this conference, WHO issued "Burden of Environmental Disease," a report analyzing five environmental causes of illness - unsafe water, indoor and outdoor air pollution, lead, and injuries. It acknowledges great economic variations across the pan-European region affecting the burden of environmentally caused disease and disability in childhood.

WHO takes the position that industrialization, urban population growth, climate change, the increasing use of chemicals and environmental degradation expose children to risks "unimaginated a few generations ago."

Viareggio, Italy, was one of the first seaside resorts in Europe and is still popular today. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

"Children in Europe and around the world deserve this future," she said.

A "healthier future" for Europe’s children is precisely what the WHO aims to achieve, says the WHO's Dr. Roberto Bertollini, director of health determinants in the WHO Regional Office for Europe. But the world health agency's view of what quality of life in a wealthy economy means differs from that of the UK think tank.

WHO data demonstrates despite general improvement of living standards for children in most of Europe, rising rates of asthma, allergy, obesity, cancers and birth defects are found. Because their bodies are developing, children are especially vulnerable to environmental hazards.

To illustrate the impact of the environment on children's health that results in three million annual deaths in children under age five worldwide, WHO launched the first "Atlas of Children's Environmental Health and the Environment," here in Budapest.

"This is a wake-up call for us and for the world. The number of child deaths is alarming. It paints a dismal picture of neglect. We must face up to reality and act now to work towards a sustainable and brighter future," said Dr. Kerstin Leitner, WHO assistant director-general for sustainable development and healthy environments.

Children parade with their parents at a Northumbrian music festival at Morpeth, England. (Photo courtesy FreeFoto)

The documents were published by WHO Headquarters and its six Regional Offices since the Third Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in London in 1999.

At the Third Ministerial Conference, Europe's Ministers of Health and Environment recognized the special vulnerability of children to environmental threats and committed to developing policies to give children safe and healthy environments. Monographs, reports, and journal articles produced as part of this process are now part of the Budapest Collection.

"This worldwide product represents an essential tool for policymakers and scientists, providing multidisciplinary insights into how to reduce the impact of the environment on children's health," said Dr. Bertollini.

The CD-ROM is equipped with interactive search options that allow users to easily find, browse and download full-text documents in various languages. Copies of the "Budapest Collection" can be requested by writing to gcc@who.it or fgi@who.it.

The Budapest conference is part of an Environment and Health process which began in Frankfurt, Germany in 1989 and continued since through conferences once every five years.