UNITED FRONT
Bangkok Declaration calls for coordinated action on environment and health to trim 6.6 million deaths
BANGKOK
Yearly 6.6 million people die in East and Southeast Asia die from environmental-health causes, making up about 25 percent of all deaths in the region. To trim these deaths and reverse the trend, health and environment officials in the region recently endorsed the Bangkok Declaration on Environment and Health, which calls for a strong concerted effort to address environmental issues that impact on people's health.
Ministers and other officials of countries in the region gathered for the First Ministerial Regional Forum on Environment and Health on August 8 to 9 in Bangkok to formulate measures that would strengthen cooperation between ministries responsible for environment and health within countries and across the region.
The Bangkok Declaration provides a mechanism for sharing knowledge and experiences, improve policy and regulatory frameworks at the national and regional level, and promote the implementation of integrated environmental-health strategies and regulations.
"The Bangkok Declaration takes us a firm step forward from monitoring and assessment of sectoral issues towards the prevention of health impacts," said Surendra Shrestha, regional director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
Over the last 50 years, environmental pollution has intensified due to rapid industrialization, urbanization, and motorization, resulting in urban air pollution, the generation of solid and hazardous wastes, and numerous man-made disasters and emergencies.
"The region's high death toll from environmental degradation can be avoided if we are determined to reverse the current trend," said Dr. Shigeru Omi, director for Western Pacific of the World Health Organization. "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," he stressed.
Dr. Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO director for Southeast Asia, said the increasing number of "cross-cutting global environmental initiatives is an invitation for mainstreaming health concerns into multisectoral cooperation." He stressed that this would need expanding the role of health ministries "to face the increasing challenges of the collaborative process of integrating health and environment in national development."
Incorporated in the Bangkok Declaration is a regional charter aimed at helping Southeast and East Asian countries develop joint policies and programs on environment and health. It identifies six environmental and health priorities over the next three years, namely:
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air quality;
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water supply, hygiene, and sanitation;
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solid and hazardous waste;
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toxic chemicals and hazardous substances;
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climate change, ozone depletion, and ecosystem change; and
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contingency planning, preparedness, and response to environmental health emergencies.
A regional thematic working group has been established for each priority area.
Dr. Vallop Thainuea, Thailand's deputy minister for public health, cited the need for better intersectoral coordination to boost the limited capacities of countries in the region to deal with environmental health problems. "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," he said.
The ministers agreed to actively share information and contribute their resources to the protection of the environment and health at the local, national, regional, and global levels.
"Protection of health and environment is vital for sustainable development. A strong and thriving economy will alleviate poverty and provide a better quality of life," said Dr. Supat Wangwongwatana, director general of pollution-control department at Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. "Not only is it important that our environmental agencies and health agencies integrate their work, it is also necessary to form partnerships among the countries in our region."
The forum was attended by officials from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Representatives from the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Development Program, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and the World Bank also attended the meeting.
The meeting was jointly organized by the UNEP regional office for Asia and the Pacific and the WHO regional offices for Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific, and hosted by Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Public Health, and the Chulabhorn Research Institute.
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