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UPDATE no.16 December 2001 INCHES
December 29, 2001-The International Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety
Dear member of INCHES,
Wishing you all a very good, healthy, childfriendly, cooperative and happy new year! I believe that we will be able to be even more succesful next year in building our network. I also hope to receive as much help from you all as in the past year.
Peter van den Hazel, also in name of Marie Bistrup and the members of the coordination committee.
In this update :
News items
Inter-American region
European region
African region
Eurasian region
Conferences
Children's Environmental Health Topics
CHILDREN: General Assembly Special Session Rescheduled For May 2002
For the rescheduled U.N. General Assembly's special session on children, one of several meetings delayed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, for May 8-10 in New York, we are seeking people who can represent INCHES during the meeting. The meeting, previously scheduled for Sept. 19-21, is a follow-up of the 1990 conference that set the guidelines for governments, interest groups and U.N. agencies to improve child education, healthcare and living conditions, with a particular focus on young girls and the poorest nations. The text of the governments is almost finished. Some paragraphs still need some consensus. The main activity for INCHES and its members will be representing children's environmental health issues at the many side events. Many organisations at the summit don't have a good idea about the environmental impact on children. We need to inform them!
If your organisation is planning to be at this summit and/or you want to represent INCHES at the summit, get in touch with Peter van den Hazel (pvdhazel@inter.nl.net) before the end of January.
Air Pollution Harmful to Babies, Fetuses, Studies Say Health: Smog is linked to stillbirths, infant deaths and low birth weight.
By GARY POLAKOVIC TIMES ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER
A growing body of research from around the world indicates that smog is exacting a much greater toll than previously known on infants and unborn babies.
The complete article can be viewed at:
http://www.latimes.com/la-000099858dec16.story
No news this issue.
The report on "Children and Noise" edited by Marie Bistrup, as report of the EU project has been released. In the next update you will receive more information on this report.
Young People From Around the Globe Appointed to Junior Board of International Children's Conference (message from UNEP, Kenya) Children from Ecuador, India, Japan, Kenya, United Kingdom and USA chosen
Nairobi, 13 December 2001 - Six children representing regions worldwide have been selected to help organize the International Children's Conference on the Environment, to be held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada from May 21 to May 25, 2002. This international group, appointed by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), joins eight Canadian children previously selected to a Junior Board.
David Anderson, Canada's Minister of Environment and President of UNEP's Governing Council, said: "UNEP has been a long-standing champion for youth engagement. Through the upcoming International Children's Conference, UNEP will provide a global forum for children to discuss environmental matters of fundamental importance. The selection of these Junior Board members will ensure that young people will play a direct role in the preparations
for next year's conference".
Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of UNEP, said: "The Junior Board members will play an extremely important role throughout the entire planning process. In addition to helping with conference details, they will serve as environmental ambassadors to children on the global stage. They will also be representing the collective voice of children on environmental issues, to be presented to governments at the World Conference on Sustainable Development later in the year".
The Junior Board is comprised of children aged 10-12 and includes representatives from Kenya, Ecuador, India, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as regions of Canada. The Board will work alongside the conference planning committee, which encompasses a broad range of interests from the public and private sectors, UNEP, and non-governmental organizations.
The International Children's Conference on the Environment brings together 800 children from 115 countries around the world to learn about and discuss environmental issues. A key outcome of the conference will be recommendations for legislative and policy changes to be made to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa (Rio +10) later in the year. The conference, produced in cooperation with UNEP, will take place in North America for the first time ever, at the University of Victoria.
Report form this years activities by Maria Cherkosova
1. During this year, we had three main meetings of participants of our Network. First one was held in Suzdal, where more than 50 members attended (it is almost half of members from different regions of Russia and some countries of NIS). The second meeting was organized at the Global Forum in Washington where number of Russian participants was the biggest after American and Canadian delegations. The Russian group consisted of 27 persons including representatives from countries of NIS. Network's members and people who got information on the Forum from our electronic bulletin were half of all participants. And the third meeting was held in Moscow during the Civil Forum, which took part in the Kremlin and brought together representatives from various public organizations of Russia. One of thematic
discussions of the Forum was named 'Citizens' Health and Environment'. I was responsible for conducting this discussion and was its co-chair. About 20 representatives of our Network took part in the discussion. It made a great effect on contents of final document. Igor Binokurov, member of our Network from Suzdal, presented the text of this document at final session in
Kremlin.
2. Six electronic bulletins, which contained information on main events at the Network, on activities of working groups, members of the Network, were distributed. We regularly circulated information which I got from European Coordinating Center of the Network (I mean information from INCHES updates).
3. Working groups carried out their activities, following groups were especially active: Persistent Organic Pollutants and Fight with them; Children's Participation in Conservation of the Environment and their Own Health; Health Effects of Radiation. Within these programs following publications appeared:1) "Ecology. Safety. Life" issues 12 and 13, Gatchina. Publications contain works of children and adults working on the program 'School Ecological Initiative', Stella Miroshkina is editor-in-chief. 2) "Poisons around us" - series of lectures of Sergei Ufit, Ph.D. in Chemistry and expert of our Network. 3) "Chernobyl - Uzlovaya" Sergei Bondarenko is its author. This publication is devoted to the problem of impacts of radioactive contamination on human health, especially on children's health. Center of Nuclear Ecology and Energy Politics of International Socio-Ecological Union published translation of the book "Deadly Deceit - Level Radiation High - Level Cover-up by Jay M.Gould, Benjamin A.Goldman, New York.4. During the year, we tried to find means for support of Network's activities. At present, this work is continued owing to small private donations.
Again Happy New Year and Merry Christmas and all the best, Maria Cherkosova
Conferences
II National Conference of the Italian Network for Children's Health and the Environment which will be held in Cremona on 18-19 January 2002. More information with Roberto Romizi: International Society of Doctors for the Environment - ISDE Scientific Office; Via della Fioraia 17/19 - 52100 Arezzo Italy; Tel. +39-0575-22256 fax +39-0575-28676 email: isde@ats.it
The EU is organizing in April 2002 a special session within the GREEN WEEK 2002 : "Children's Health and Environment" Here follows the draft programme !!!!
Monday 15 April Opening session 11:30 - 13:00
Launch WHO/EEA publication on CHE
Dr Marc Danzon, WHO Regional Director for Europe
Panel discussion
Policy : Jürgen Trittin (Environment Minister Germany)/Michael Martin (Health Minister Ireland)
Scientists : Dr. Giorgio Tamburlini/Dr. Philip Landrigan (Mount Sinai Hospital, NY)
NGO: Dr Gaudenz Silberschmidt, Secretary General of International Society of Doctors for the Environment ISDE
Commissioner Wallström : conclusions
Opening Plenary 14:30-16:00
The aim of this session is to explain the problem of Children's Health and the Environment and to give an overview of the initiatives of different organisations in this area.
Chair : St. Kaiser (EC) ???
- WHO Task Force for CEH : Dr. Roberto Bertollini
- INCHES : Peter Van den Hazel
- Children's Environment Health Network : Daniel Swartz, Executive Director CEHN
CHE 3 parallel sessions 16:30-18:00
Video chemicals/children + …
Tuesday 16 April : Parallel sessions
The thematic sessions will focus on the main environmental hazards to children :
Ø Chemicals
Ø Air
Ø Noise
Ø Radiation
and to raising awareness and education.
+ session "Improve protection from surrounding risks"
+ session "Children and Mobility and Health"
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In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development -Training Programs for Health Professionals
Upcoming Trainings in San Francisco and Boston
San Francisco - Saturday, April 27, 2002: Lucille Packard Children's Hospital /
Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, California
For more information: Julie Silas, Program Director, San Francisco Bay Area Physicians for Social Responsibility at 510-845-8395 or jules32@earthlink.net.
Boston - Thursday, May 9, 2002
Boston University Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts
For more information: Marybeth Palmigiano, Program Consultant, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, 617-497-7440 or psrmabo@igc.org
Training Summary
Nearly 12 million children in the US suffer from one or more learning, behavioral or developmental disabilities such as ADHD and autism. Studies indicate that exposure to a variety of commonly encountered chemicals may contribute to these disabilities.
Please join us at one of these daylong training conferences for health professionals, which will:
§ Address the role that environmental chemicals including metals, solvents, pesticides and other substances play in neurodevelopmental disorders.
§ Provide tools the healthcare community can use to help recognize and mitigate, as well as prevent, patient exposures to environmental pollutants.
§ Discuss the role of health professionals as public health advocates.
The training is based on the peer-reviewed report In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, released in May, 2000 and endorsed by leading scientists and academics. It is presented in a combination of plenary lectures and workshops featuring case studies. The training is relevant to physicians, nurses, midwives, staff of community health centers, medical students, childbirth educators, psychologists, and other health care providers, and is designed to provide Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits to physicians as well as Contact Hours for Nurses. A successful pilot training was held in April, 2001 at the New York Academy of Medicine.
In addition to the authors of In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development, workshops are led by local health care providers, public health professionals and community advocates in order to balance clinical material with local public health issues.
Did you locate a possible sponsor? Do you a private sponsor? Can we mail some information on INCHES to one of your friends?
Any donations (or suggestions of possible donors) are welcome at bank account nr.: 526292490 ABN AMRO (swiftcode ABNANL 2A), Dieren, the Netherlands.
Children's Environmental Health Topics
In this paragraph we would like to place some items that are important for their contents. If anyone wishes to send in an abstract on any topic related to children's environmental health and safety, mail it to the email address of the update.
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We are looking for some fact sheets on different children's environmental topics, like reducing risk from lead, risk from mercury, risk from pesticides, risk form solvents, risk from indoor air pollution, risk from environmental tobacco smoke. We would like to produce factsheets on these and other topics and have them translated in different languages. If your organisation has produced a gact sheet, please make it available to the network. We will try to have it translated and make it usuable for different countries. PLEASE MAIL your FACTSHEETS to: pvdhazel@inter.nl.net
Last updated 01May 2002
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