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Better environment prevents many
diseases: WHO report
22 June, 2007:
A report by the World Health
Organisation (WHO) has highlighted the
potential for preventing diseases
through initiatives aimed at improving
the quality of environment.
The report titled Country Profiles of
the Environmental Burden of Disease is
the first-ever country-by-country data
for all member-states of the World
Health Organisation, including the 53
countries in the European region.
It provides country-specific data on
diseases like respiratory infections,
injuries or cancers that are
preventable by improving a number of
environmental factors such as air
pollution, ultraviolet radiation and
the built environment.
The authors of the report indicate
that “well-tested environmental-health
interventions could reduce early
deaths in the countries of the WHO
European region by almost 20%.” The
lowest levels of risk are found in
northern and western European
countries, while some eastern European
countries are identified as having
very high risk levels.
The new assessment identifies the
disease burden that is preventable by
improvements to selected environmental
causes (such as air pollution,
occupational factors, ultraviolet
radiation and the built environment)
of many of the diseases, including
diarrhoea, respiratory infections,
vector-borne diseases, cancers, neuro-developmental
disorders, cardiovascular diseases,
asthma and injuries that lead to
disability and death.
The report ranks countries by the size
of the portion of death and disability
due to the environment. The range of
disability-adjusted years of life lost
(DALYs) varies up to four-fold across
the WHO European region. This may be
because of a combination of
traditional (such as water) and modern
(such as air pollution and chemicals)
environmental risk factors.
Dr Marc Danzon, WHO’s regional
director for Europe, says that
significant variations in the burden
of disease between countries point to
“the potential preventable nature of
many of these threats and offer us
hope and a challenge for the future.”
Children, in general, are most
affected by environmental disease
threats. When it comes to people of
less than 19 years of age, the
proportion of deaths from
environmental exposure increases to
34%, the WHO report says.
As one of the most vulnerable parts of
our society, adds the report, children
are particularly sensitive to
environmental threats. The proportion
of deaths from environmental exposure
increases to 34% in children and
adolescents under 19 years of age.
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