The First Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment in Africa will be held in Gabon next week to discuss ways of combating environmental-related diseases in the continent.
A statement from the UN Environment Program (UNEP) said the Aug.26-29 meeting it organized with WHO is expected to attract hundreds of delegates including health ministers, ministers of environment, high-level experts, academics, policy makers, bilateral & multilateral institutions and NGOs.
The statement said the conference will explore the evidence base for the bi-directional links between health and environment.
It intends to build a strategic health and environment alliance that will influence development policies at the macro-economic and sectoral levels, impact on existing investment frameworks and resource allocation criteria and procedures, and lead to tangible outcomes in the short to medium terms.
Diseases caused by changes in the environment accounts for a significant number of deaths in the African continent.
"African countries share common ecosystems and the impact of the environment on health transcends national borders. Accelerated efforts are required to deal with the outbreak of diseases caused by changes in the environment," said Luis Sambo, regional director of the WHO for Africa.
"This conference is a step towards future collaborative efforts between the WHO, the UNEP, and Ministries of Health and Environment to implement integrated activities that promote health and sustainable development."
The conference, the first of its kind in Africa, aims at securing political commitment for catalyzing an integrated approach to policy and at obtaining the institutional and investment changes required to reduce environmental threats to health.
It is estimated that the burden of disease is heaviest in the African region, and a quarter of this disease burden may be associated with environmental changes.
High levels of air pollution, both inside and outside, unsafe water supplies, inadequate sanitation and unhygienic ally prepared food are widespread in many parts of the continent. Emerging environmental risks such as ecosystem degradation and climate change pose a further threat to the health of communities in the region.
"While our knowledge has been increasing about how ecosystems and species and the quality of the environment relate to human health, there is a lag in concerted policy and action to address this relationship," said Angela Cropper, UNEP's deputy director.
"Bringing together Ministers of Environment and Health in this conference is an opportunity to lay the basis for doing so in and on behalf of the continent of Africa. We need to make sure that this partnership between WHO and UNEP endures and gets stronger, in order for the United Nations System to offer to Africa the quality of technical and policy support which will be needed."
The four-day conference will involve a ministerial session preceded by a meeting of government experts.
Source: Xinhua
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