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Maria Neira
WHO Director |
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
All countries around the globe should exert greater efforts to eliminate environmental risks threatening the health of children, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official said.
To prevent childhood diseases through a healthy environment, countries need to use the tools and mechanisms already available, translate research and knowledge into protective policies, and commit themselves to strong political actions, said Dr. Maria Neira, the director for the department of public health and the environment at WHO.
In a written interview with The Korea Times prior to her visit to Korea to attend the 3rd WHO International Conference on Children's Health and the Environment, Neira stressed the close co-relations between the environment and human health.
``As much as 24 percent of global disease and 85 out of 102 main diseases reported by WHO are associated with environmental exposure,'' she said. ``Unsafe water, polluted air, toxic chemicals and other environmental factors contribute to diseases in children. Reducing these environmental risks could save us as many as four million lives a year, mostly in developing countries,'' she said.
Many believe that people are only vulnerable to environment-related diseases in the underdeveloped world but various types of these are also seen in industrialized countries.
Noting that children are among the most vulnerable to the effects of environmental deterioration, she said the health of many children is at risk.
``Major afflictions confronting children now are chronic and disabling conditions: the `new paediatric morbidity','' she said. ``It is reported that asthma mortality has sharply increased, as have the incidences of leukemia and brain cancer; neurodevelopmental dysfunction is widespread; and hypospadias incidence has doubled.
``Furthermore, we are concerned about `new chemicals' present in household products, cosmetics and toys, about the impact of some new technologies.''
After many rounds of meetings with representatives and experts from around the world, there is agreement that children should have the right to be born, to grow, to live and to thrive in an environment with clean air and water as well as safe food and minimal exposure to harmful chemicals.
Neira also noted that WHO is concerned that some of the most staple needs for human life such as drinking water, food and air may be threatened in a rapidly changing environment.
She said, it will be the most vulnerable people affected by poverty, who live in areas where natural and financial resources are scarce, who will suffer the most. WHO is now helping such countries introduce evidence-based protective policies to protect children from new risk factors in a rapidly changing environment.
The director has high expectations for the conference that is to be held in Busan from Monday to Wednesday. ``It will enable us to work out why existing global effort have not progressed more rapidly, and more importantly, what needs to be done, both in developing and industrialized countries,'' she said.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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