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Health
and
Environmental Ministerial Meeting of the Americas (HEMA)
Health
and Environment Ministers of the Americas (HEMA)
met in Mar del Plata, Argentina on 16-17 June 2005, to discuss how to
improve linkages and integrate their work to improve the quality of
life of their people. At the meeting, they adopted a formal plan of
action to address the growing impacts of environmental-health
linkages and also discussed the advances and challenges the countries
face in achieving the Millennium Development Goals related to health
and environment, at a special session 18 June. The initiative was
supported by UNEP, along with others, namely, the Pan
American Health Organization
and the Organization of American States. The meeting adopted a plan
of action on children’s environmental health, integrated
water
resources and solid waste management, and the sound management of
chemicals. In HEMA’s ‘Declaration of Mar Del
Plata’, adopted on
17 June 2005, Ministers identified three priority issues for regional
cooperation related to health and environment, one of which being
children’s environmental health, and the other two very much
related to children’s environmental health, namely,
integrated
management of water resources and solid waste, and sound management
of chemicals.
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In
the specific section on children’s environmental health,
Ministers
resolved “to improve the understanding between environmental
quality and children’s health, considering that children are
particularly vulnerable throughout the different stages of their
development” The Declaration goes on: “Similarly,
we commit to
continue and strengthen the actions aimed at the prevention of the
adverse effects of the environment on children. We also recognize the
threats posed by emerging and re-emerging diseases and commit
ourselves to developing a better understanding of the conditions that
give rise to them”. Countries will focus efforts on the need
to:
Strengthen the training with respect to children’s
environmental
health at every level of health care; Strengthen programs of
education and incentive for public participation, as part of a broad
strategy for promoting children’s environmental health;
Incorporate
the theme of children’s environmental health into formal
educational programs; Promote the organization of fora on
children’s
environmental health, as well as incorporate this issue into other
fora; Develop strategies for the implementation of initiatives on
Children’s Environmental Health; Promote cohort studies on
the
effects of pollution on children's health; Promote measures aimed at
the reduction of environmental risks related to zoonotic diseases;
Promote the establishment and networking of pediatric environmental
health specialty units; and Strengthen capacities to recognize and
manage poisoning in children derived from pesticides and other
chemicals. In addition to ministers, participants included the
Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Lee Jong-Wook;
the Executive Director of UNEP, Dr. Klaus Toepfer; and Director of
UNEP's Regional Office for Latin Amreica and the Caribbean, Dr. Ricardo
Sánchez, who discussed advances in the goals related to the
environment.
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Second
International Conference on Children's Environmental Health: Healthy
Environments Healthy Children: Increasing Knowledge and Taking Action
UNEP
participated in the ‘Second International Conference on
Children's
Environmental Health (CEH): Healthy
Environments Healthy Children: Increasing Knowledge and Taking
Action’ in Buenos Aires,
Argentina from 14 to 16
November 2005. Hosted by the Government of Argentina, WHO, PAHO,
and the Argentine Pediatric Society, the Conference brought together
experts and partners from all over the world (388 participants)
including Her Royal Highness Princess Chulabhorn from Thailand. The
objectives were to: (a) strengthen collaborative research; (b)
increase awareness of CEH issues; (c) facilitate the sharing of
experiences and (d) instigate actions to improve the environment of
children in the Americas and around the world. Speakers
at the conference were experts from Argentina and 15 other countries,
NGOs WHO, PAHO and UNEP
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