In an eleventh-hour move, World Health Assembly member states on Monday deferred a final vote on a draft WHO Action plan on Climate Change and Health until Tuesday morning – in an effort to find a last-minute compromise with a bloc of oil-rich states trying to put the plan on ice. The move followed a […] Continue reading ->
A new, and near final iteration of WHO’s reorganization will shrink its programme divisions even further than previous drafts – from 10 to only four – with health systems emerging as one key pillar of the revamped organization. At the same time, disease control departments and preventive health teams – such as health promotion and […] Continue reading ->
The federal agency responsible for protecting the environment in the United States will stop requiring most polluters to report their emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases that cause climate change. The upcoming policy shift by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), first reported by ProPublica on Thursday, will effectively render the second-largest greenhouse […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia — “When I met with taxi drivers in Abu Dhabi about the pollution from their cars, they told me to talk to the desert,” recalled Dr George Thurston, director of New York University’s research program on the health impacts of ambient and occupational air pollution. The taxi drivers’ retort points to a global […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia – From Warsaw to Mexicali, a group of mothers from six cities worldwide came together to create and present a quilt highlighting the threat of dirty air to their children at the World Health Organization (WHO) Conference on Air Pollution and Health held here last week. Each block of the quilt tells the […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA – Colombia President Gustavo Petro launched into a blistering attack on the new administration of United States President Donald Trump on the closing day of a three-day WHO conference here on air pollution – warning that progress on critical environmental health and climate topics depends on the “common agenda” that has been fostered by […] Continue reading ->
Air pollution has been linked to poor brain development, as well as a higher risk of dementia and stroke. A link has also been established between exposure to air pollution and depression as well as higher suicide rates. The subject received attention at the second WHO’s global conference on air pollution and health in Cartagena, […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia – From toxic methane flares in the Amazon rainforest to the death of a nine-year-old girl from London smog, the second WHO Conference on Air Pollution and Health opened Tuesday with a series of emotional testimonials on the deadly effects of smog. Behind the human stories, however, stands a mounting array of evidence […] Continue reading ->
CARTAGENA, Colombia – A small group of climate pollutants– including the air pollutants black carbon, methane, and ozone – are responsible for nearly half of global temperature increases to date. Reducing these emissions, which only remain in the atmosphere for a few weeks to decades, could serve as the “emergency brake” critical to halting runaway […] Continue reading ->
OSOGBO, Nigeria – A few years back, when the bustling Alekuwodo market in Osogbo in Osun State quietened down at night, the chaos of the day lingered. Crushed tomatoes, discarded papers, plastic wrappers, bean husks, watermelon rinds and other fruit scraps turned the market square into a suffocating mess. As the sun set, the stench […] Continue reading ->