"Let's Ensure a Healthy Future" - WECF side event at WHO 6th Ministerial Conference

Protecting children from exposure to harmful chemicals to avoid irreversible damage.

14.06.2017 |

Protecting children from exposure to harmful chemicals to avoid irreversible damage. With this motto, WECF organised the Side Event "Let's Ensure a Healthy Future" at the WHO Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health side event.

Side event on children’s health

Greater understanding of life cycle health costs, risks, and costs of inaction are urgently needed in terms of children’s exposure to harmful chemicals. That’s why WECF invited participants to share experiences children's environmental health risks during a side event discussing various sources of exposure and best practices for moving forward.

Environmental Health Costs and Risks

Concrete good practices were shown from projects on non-chemical alternatives and chemicals, water protection and circular economy policies from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Georgia and Moldova.

Evolving understanding of the health costs and risks, the costs of inaction and good examples are urgently needed. Examples of this are alternatives to chrysotile Asbestos, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), heavy metals and water-related pollution.

The side event was organised by WECF ‘s network of partners from across the WHO-Euro region, in collaboration with HEAL, IPEN and the German Environment Agency UBA. Other invited participants to share experiences from Republic of Moldova, Denmark, Sweden, France and the Netherlands.

Speakers were

Maria Krautzberger, President, German Federal Agency of Environment (UBA)
Marietta Khurshudyan, Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment, Armenia
Miroslava Jopkova, ARNICA, Czech Republic
Olga Ponizova, ECO Accord, Russia
Caroline Paul, Ministry of Health, France
Sascha Gabizon, WECF International
Dr. Michaela Vasilescu, Bucharest University, Romania
Dr. Claudia Wendland, WECF Germany
Natasa Dokovska, Journalists for Human Rights, FYR Macedonia

The event was moderated by Dr. Claudia Wendland & Sascha Gabizon from WECF

Brigitte Dessing from the Netherlands Ministry of Environment (MinIenM), Programme Health and Environment, acted as respondent.

Download the presentations

More information on WECF activities at the conference can be found on our WECF in Ostrava page.

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