WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Towards a pan-European Environment and Health Information System World Health Organization European Centre for Environment and Health, Bonn Office Working Group on Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 5th Session, Geneva, 2-3 June 2005 Dafina Dalbokova, Michal Krzyzanowski

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Background: the need for EHIS, Budapest Conference EHIS: concept and main elements, example Implementing the Budapest Declaration commitments: * Activities towards EHIS; * EHIS implementation in European Region. Challenges and opportunities This presentation:

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health  What is (magnitude of) environment-related health problems?  How does the environment affect our health?  When to act and how?  Are policy measures effective in terms of health benefits?  How are we doing as compared to others? Questions: policy-makers, citizens

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, Budapest 2004  Joining national actions with WHO, the EC and other international agencies on methodological and technical development;  Establishment of necessary mechanisms to sustain the process esp. a network of collaborating centres. DECLARATION Member States commitment on EHIS: Children’s EH Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) adopted.

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health EH Information and policy cycle Formulation Implementation Monitoring/ evaluation EH Information Health in setting priorities for policy actions H-E situation over time, across countries Policy performance in terms of health benefits

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Reporting Environment and Health Information System: main elements Indicators Evidence

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health EH Indicators and Assessments EH indicators focus: E xposure-Health E ffects- A ctions DPSEEA interlinkages enable policy- relevant EH assessments & reporting The DPSEEA model EH indicators credibility: scientific evidence of H-E links

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Loss of life expectancy Due to PM2.5 from anthropogenic sources Loss of Life expectancy in months Source:EMEP & IIASA Example: Air pollution POLICY FORMULATION

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Health Benefits of Reducing Air Pollution Policies Preventable Loss of Life Expectancy by a 10% reduction in PM exposure Example cont’d POLICY EVALUATION

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Population exposure to urban PM10 air pollution Example cont’d POLICY MONITORING POLICY MONITORING

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Activities towards pan-European EHIS Implementing Budapest Declaration Commitments on EHIS

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health PROJECTS (i) Development of EH Indicators ( ) Pilot application of a ‘core’ set of EH indicators in collaboration with 15 Member States and EEA towards Budapest Issues covered: Air, Noise, Housing, Traffic accidents, Water & sanitation, Chemical emergencies, Radiation Objectives: To propose, validate and test a ‘core’ set of indicators Results: 17 indicators on Exposure, Effects, Action (+ 13 on driving forces, pressure, state identified) Development of EH Indicators for EU Countries: ECOEHIS ( ) Co-sponsored EC DG Sanco

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health WHO/ECEH and partners from 22 Member States Work Packages: 1. Information needs of policies 2. Update core set of indicators (focus: CHILDREN) 3. Information retrieval and collection 4. Networking 5. Health Impact Assessment 6. Information maintenance, analysis and reporting Implementing Environment and Health Information System in Europe: ENHIS ( ) PROJECTS (ii) Co-sponsored EC DG Sanco

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Coordination of EU and WHO work on EHIS PROJECTS (iii) Testing feasibility of the system (2004/05): Estonia, Latvia, Russian Federation: ‘Assessment of EH situation on air, drinking water’ Related developments Air Quality reporting in EU: Air Quality reporting in EU: exceedences replaced by a uniform system of pollutant concentrations at spatial resolution. 16 th Ratification of UNECE/WHO Water & Health Protocol 16 th Ratification of UNECE/WHO Water & Health Protocol In force - August 2005, reporting programme – early 2006.

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health  Organisational framework using existing national structures: network of technical reference centres, national processes;  5 th Ministerial Conference on EH in EHIS Implementation in Europe: a coordinated movement to achieve common objectives  Framework action plan: focus - CEHAPE monitoring;  Intergov. Review 2007  CEHAPE assessment report using EHIS;  Steering - EEHC;  Technical coordination - dedicated Group: Albania, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Italy, Lithuania, Slovakia, Spain, EEA, EC DG ENV, EC DG SANCO, EC JRC, UNECE, UNEP, WHO.

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health  Simple message on a complex issue  Analyzing data collected for other than EH purposes  Dealing with scientific uncertainty  Reporting overload  Diversity of sectors involved Challenges … … and Opportunities For joint actions on EH information  2007 Reports For joint actions on EH information  2007 Reports; Towards a health-relevant environmental monitoring and reporting. reporting.

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Thank you

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health

Legend: Afr D Afr E Amr A Amr B Amr D Regions serving as basis for calculations Eur A Eur B Eur C Emr B Emr D Sear B Sear D Wpr A Wpr B

WHO European Centre for Environment and Health Example: Air pollution POLICY FORMULATION (i) Deaths attributable to air pollution by Region WHO CRA project, 2004