Media Room News Releases and Advisories

Backgrounder: An Initiative to Help Address Environmental Threats to Human Health

There is growing appreciation of the linkages between environment, health and poverty. Up to one-fifth of the global burden of disease may be associated with environmental factors. The poor, especially women and children, share a disproportionate burden of disease from environmental sources. Inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene practices and lack of access to safe water are major causes of ill-health, as is poor air quality.

The Rio Declaration of Environment and Development recognized as its first principle the interconnection between human health and the environment and sought ways to conserve, protect and restore the health of the Earth's ecosystems and inhabitants. However, ten years later, and even with growing awareness, environmental threats remain a leading cause of illness, hospitalization and death worldwide.

Building Capacity for More Effective Policy Responses

To enhance effectiveness in tackling environmental threats to human health, knowledge needs to be consolidated and shared to influence policy responses at the local, national, regional and international levels.

Canada's Proposal — Strengthening Health and Environment Linkages: From Knowledge to Action

As part of its contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Canada is proposing a global initiative focused on health and environment linkages. The first step would be to assemble a comprehensive, timely and policy-relevant base of existing knowledge on the scientific, technical and socio-economic dimensions of health and environment linkages. This knowledge synthesis would highlight best practices, key knowledge gaps and barriers to action. Through the World Health Organization, it is anticipated that an expert panel composed of developed and developing countries will identify and bring together the information.

The second component would be to use the results of the knowledge synthesis as a tool for governments and partners to develop strategies and strengthen decision-making related to human health and the environment. The knowledge gained through the synthesis would be transferred through technical workshops, publications, an internet portal, and the assistance of experts. Resulting benefits include improved capacity to use technology to remediate environmentally contaminated areas, intersectoral collaboration that achieves greater efficiency in addressing crosscutting issues and better informed decision-making to protect the environment and human health.

Seeking a Global Partnership

The success of the Health and Environment Linkages Initiative depends on a global partnership of governments, non-governmental bodies and international organizations. The World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme have expressed their interest in actively participating. Canada extends an invitation to other parties interested in joining the partnership to contact us.