Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 NEW REPORT Nearly 5,000 deaths a day in Europe are preventable Roberto Bertollini Special Programme on Health and Environment WHO Regional Office for Europe EMBARGOED 9:00 GMT Wed 13 June 2007

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Great potential for disease’s prevention Country profiles of environmental burden of disease presents the latest evidence on environmental threats to health identifies the disease burden preventable by environmental improvements is the first ever country by country data for the 53 countries in the WHO European Region

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Selected causes Air pollution Occupational factors UV radiation The built environment

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Diseases with preventable environmental fraction Diarrhoea Respiratory infections Vector borne diseases Cancers Neuro-developmental disorders Cardiovascular diseases Asthma Injuries Photo by T. Divakova

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Well tested environmental health interventions could reduce total deaths in the European Region by almost 20%, saving nearly 1.8 million lives a year

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Countries are ranked by the size of portion of death and disease due to the environment The range of years of life lost (DALYs) varies up to fourfold across. Lowest levels of risk are found in Northern and Western countries. High risk levels are reported for some countries of Eastern Europe. These may be due to a combination of traditional and modern environmental risk factors.

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 DALYs due to environmental factors/1000 capita

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 DALYs due to environmental factors/1000 capita-by subregions

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 The significant variations in the burden of disease between countries point to the potential preventable nature of many diseases

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 The environmentally attributable disease burden falls especially hard on children The proportion of deaths from environmental exposure increases to 34% in children and adolescents younger than 19 years. As one of the most vulnerable parts of our society, children are particularly sensitive to environmental threats. This is why children and their future is the theme that encompasses environment and health action in Europe.

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 For the first time in Vienna countries will analyse their experiences and share lessons learned safe water (RPG1) injuries and physical activity (RPG2) clean air (RPG3) chemical-free environments (RPG4) European ministries, scientists, and NGOs will check on progress made towards fulfilling their pledges for their children on the four Regional Priority Goals:

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 Examples of reported measures to be discussed in Vienna RPG1 - Ensuring that all child care institutions and schools are provided with adequate safe water and basic sanitation (Romania) RPG2 - Reducing car-traffic in school environment and motivating students to walk and cycle to school (Austria) RPG3 - Establishing pollen filters in homes, kindergartens and schools for children with asthma and allergies (Denmark) RPG4 - Improving the control and surveillance of the production and use of children’s toys and games (Russian Federation).

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007 w w w. euro. w h o. i n t / i m r2007

Intergovernmental Midterm Review, Vienna June 2007

Analyses were performed separately for 3 European subregions, according to the classification used by WHO