En ny rapport fra FN’s miljøprogram sætter fokus på linket mellem klima, miljø og sundhed på kontinentet. Den opfordrer afrikanske regeringsledere til at sætte miljømæssige problemer som forurening og kemikalieeksponering højt på dagsordenen.
NAIROBI, 21 February 2012 (UNEP): Africa’s leaders should put implementing environment and health issues at the top of their national and continent-wide policies if growing challenges such as air pollution, vector-borne (insektbårne) diseases and chemical exposure are to be addressed, according to a new report compiled by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) released today.
African Environment Outlook-3 (AEO-3), commissioned by the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), places special focus on links between environment and health, pointing to the statistic that environmental risks contribute 28 per cent of Africa’s disease burden. Diarrhoea, respiratory infections (luftvejsinfektioner) and malaria account for 60 per cent of known environmental health impacts in Africa.
In particular, particulate matter (luftforurenende partikler) – the air pollutant with greatest impact on human health – is of great concern in poor rural areas (landområder), where little access to cleaner stoves (komfurer) and fuels causes significant health impacts through indoor pollution. Air pollution in Africa can be 10 to 30 times higher than World Health Organization limits
Other issues highlighted that have a major impact include the degradation (forringelsen) of health-promoting goods and services such as food and medicinal plants made possible by land and marine biodiversity. For example, 80 per cent of Africa’s rural population depends on traditional medicines harvested (høstet) from nature.
The report also spotlights a lack of capacity to deal with the growing effects of climate change; inadequate (utilstrækkelig) water, sanitation and hygiene – in 2010, only 60 per cent of the sub-Saharan Africa population had access to safe water; and poor waste disposal (affaldshåndtering) practices.
En værktøjskasse til afrikanske beslutningstagere
The AEO-3 Summary for Policy Makers is intended to provide information that can assist AMCEN member countries in strengthening their capacity for policy making and advocacy on national, regional and global levels.
“Africa’s population is growing at the fastest rate in the world and its economy is expanding at a commensurate (tilsvarende) rate, yet not enough focus has been placed on the role environmental concerns play in ensuring the wellbeing of this expanding, dynamic continent’s citizens,” said UNEP Executive Director and UN Under-Secretary General Achim Steiner.
“Africa is moving into a new phase that could see the continent become a major player in the transition to a global inclusive Green Economy, but to do that it needs a healthy population with guaranteed access to well-managed natural resources,” he added. “AEO-3 gives policy makers a clear pathway to a sustainable and healthy future by focusing on the areas that need urgent attention, showing how to remove barriers to policy implementation, and highlighting new policies.”
The report highlights emerging issues and assesses trends related to environmental change and the consequences for human health in the region, and proposes new policy directions for enabling transformative
changes for a sustainable future.
Læs videre på: http://unep.org/newscentre/Default.aspx?DocumentID=2704&ArticleID=9414&l=en
Begynd ved: “In addition, the report…”
Læs hele rapporten her: http://www.unep.org/pdf/aeo3.pdf
