Millions Die Yearly Due to Environmental Factors

Millions Die Yearly Due to Environmental Factors



Aug. 2007  - At least 6.6 million people die 
each year in southern Asia due to environmental factors - about 25 percent 
of all deaths in the region, according to the World Health Organization. 
Meeting in Bangkok last week, ministers from across the region agreed with 
environmental and health officials on a plan to reduce that number. 
Over the last 50 years, environmental pollution in southern Asia has 
intensified due to rapid industrialization, urbanization and motorization.

The result has been urban air pollution, the generation of solid and 
hazardous wastes, as well as numerous disasters and emergencies created by 
human activities, the officials acknowledged. 
"The region's high death toll from environmental degradation can be 
avoided if we are determined to reverse the current trend," said Shigeru 
Omi. 
Omi is Western Pacific director of the UN World Health Organization, WHO, 
which jointly organized the First Ministerial Regional Forum on 
Environment and Health in Bangkok with the UN Environment Programme, UNEP. 

The meeting was aimed at strengthening cooperation between ministries 
responsible for environment and health within Southeast and East Asian 
countries and across the region. 
"Solving environmental health problems requires collaboration between 
health and environmental sectors. We need to strengthen our collective 
commitment to priority environmental health challenges in the region," 
said Omi. 
At the two-day meeting last week, ministers and senior officials adopted 
the Bangkok Declaration on Environment and Health. 
The accompanying regional charter identified six environmental and health 
priorities for joint policies and programs over the next three years: 
  air quality 
  water supply, hygiene and sanitation 
  solid and hazardous waste 
  toxic chemicals and hazardous substances 
  climate change, ozone depletion and ecosystem change 
  contingency planning, preparedness and response to environmental health 
  emergencies
A regional thematic working group has been established for each priority 
area. 
"The Bangkok Declaration takes us a firm step forward from monitoring and 
assessment of sectoral issues towards the prevention of health impacts," 
said UNEP Regional Director Surendra Shrestha.

      Homes in Hanoi, Vietnam  
Dr. Vallop Thainuea, deputy minister for Thailand's Ministry of Public 
Health said, "Since the capacities of countries in the region to deal with 
environmental health problems are limited, we need to have better 
intersectoral coordination." 
"Harmonized policy responses need to be formulated for the transboundary 
environmental risk to health. Consequently, there is the need for an 
integrated management of health and environmental issues in the region," 
said Thainuea. 
The ministers agreed to actively share information and contribute their 
resources for protection of the environment and health at the local, 
national, regional and global level. 
The Bangkok Declaration provides a mechanism for sharing knowledge and 
experiences, improves policy and regulatory frameworks at the national and 
regional level, and promotes the implementation of integrated 
environmental health strategies and regulations. 
The ministerial meeting held on August 9 opened with a scientific segment 
chaired by Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn of Thailand, president 
of the Chulabhorn Research Institute. 
The princess stressed the importance of addressing environmental health 
issues in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly carcinogenic air 
pollutants. 
She said the Chulabhorn Research Institute will utilize its links to other 
institutions and experts in the fields of environmental science and human 
health, as well as its network of research collaborators, to assist 
countries in the region to develop the human resources and capacity to 
deal with these environmental problems. 
The Ministerial Regional Forum was attended by environment and health 
ministers and high level officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, 
China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, the 
Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. 
Representatives from the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations 
Development Programme, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission 
for Asia and the Pacific, and the World Bank also attended the meeting. 
A Second Ministerial Regional Forum is planned in 2010 to review progress 
in implementing the new regional Charter. 

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