Thanks to the commitment of WHO and the European Commission, much is now being done to achieve improvements in children’s environmental health in Europe. EPHA hopes that as the process goes on stronger emphasis will be given to inequalities in children’s health and to acknowledging their rights.
Millions of European children have poor health because of the poverty in which they live. According to UNICEF, the number of children living in households that do not include a working adult has increased within the European Union since 1985. In Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, more children are now living in poverty than they were when the Berlin Wall fell. The right of European children to health is still a distant dream.
As the following round-up shows, many of EPHA’s members are involved in projects that address not only children’s environmental health but also inequality and children’s right to health.
Children’s right to health
"Who makes a choice for the health of this child?" The campaign of the Wemos Foundation, Netherlands, highlights concerns about the growing influence of the private sector in international child health policy. Wemos says that the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI), one of the first and largest public-private initiatives, is focusing on new, expensive vaccines. Only 10% of the budget is left for efforts to reach the group of children that most need protection, such as children living in urban slums.
Another worry is infant food policy recommendations. The World Health Assembly (WHO’s highest body) has defined exclusive breastfeeding as "best for the healthy growth and development of all babies up to six months". However, this has not yet been fully accepted by Codex Alimentarius, the UN agency responsible for setting international food standards. This may be partly because it has the joint task of protecting health and promoting trade, and is therefore heavily lobbied by the food industry. Wemos argues that decisions agreed at the World Health Assembly should apply to the Codex.
Clean water
The main aim of Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) is to stimulate the participation of women in policy making, but women themselves tend to want to focus on children’s health. For example, when working closely with a sister organisation in Ukraine, clean water was the priority chosen by local people - and in particular the effects of contaminated water on the health of their children.
WECF and MAMA 86 invited a Dutch water engineering company to visit the Ukrainian town of Sebastopol to see what could be done. He found that the local hospital was not only receiving polluted drinking water, it was also discharging its waste water without any treatment into streams and canals. Unsurprisingly, many of patients were suffering from diphtheria, hepatitis and meningitis. Today, thanks to the project, a small water-purification system unit is being built with co-financing from the local authorities.
Healthy schools
Greece is one of 40 countries taking part in the European Network of Health Promoting Schools. Katerina Sokou of the Greek Network of Health Promoting Schools describes the work of the network primarily in terms of children’s rights to decision-making. "It has to do with the empowerment of pupils to participate in decision-making and to take autonomous decisions. It concerns the mental health of teachers and pupils and school safety, equality and democracy.
"It is also concerned with the school ethos and changes in teaching and learning methods, participatory methods, increasing pupils’ abilities and skills. And, of course, it has to do with self-esteem, good communication and all the important areas of concern from Ottawa (Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion 1986) such as community, are priority issues and part and parcel of the ENHPS conceptualisation of the Health Promoting School. Schools have also worked on nutrition, safety, combating violence and many other issues."
Curbing marketing practices
Many EPHA members are concerned about private company marketing practices that create an environment in which children and young people are encouraged to consume products that are harmful to them, such as cigarettes and alcohol. In response, Eurocare have been monitoring advertising within European Member States for example alcohol advertising that targets young people. Dr Fernand Sauer, Director of Public Health at DG Sanco, told the EPHA annual meeting in June that his department considered this monitoring to be important and welcomed the efforts of NGOs.
Allergies
The European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) has played a key role in bringing attention to child allergies in Europe. Their leaflet "One child in four is allergic … and tomorrow?" has been distributed widely. It highlights the growing use of inhalant allergens, certain foods and the indoor environment as causes of allergy and asthma. During Green Week 2002, EAACI organised a session on children and air pollution in association with the European Federation of Allergy and Asthma (EFA), which included a project on indoor pollution in schools. EAACI brings together 3,000 academicians in 38 countries.
Childhood injuries
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is a UK based charity devoted to preventing all types of accidents, including those affecting children such as road traffic accidents, drowning and accidents in the home. Rospa believes that NGOs can play an important role in education, information and monitoring of accident prevention. Rospa’s Public Affairs Adviser, Janice Cave, who is also EPHA’s Vice President, believes that if accidents are to be tackled in a more comprehensive way, safety impact assessments should be considered the natural extension of health impact assessments.
The way ahead
Reducing exposure to pollutants in the air, water and food is a key to the health of Europe’s future generation. Equally important is reducing accidents and "problems associated with the social patterns typical of the western developed societies", such as obesity in children and early experimentation with cigarettes and alcohol. The European environment and health process is already involving many government and non-governmental organisations and children in developing strategies and plans.
However, a more holistic and coherent approach to the promotion of child health would require the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into the EU Treaty. Only then will there be a legal basis for promoting the best interests of the child in all EU policies. If Europe wants to improve the health of all Europe’s children, it should be brought closer to its 90 million young citizens by recognising their rights.
EPHA prioritises children
In 2001, EPHA undertook a survey of health and environmental concerns among civil society groups on behalf of the WHO’s European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC), organisers of the Fourth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Budapest in 2004. Children’s health came out as a top priority.
EPHA was chosen for this work by virtue of its position on the European Health and Environment Network (eHEN). Génon Jensen, Policy Director, is a vice-chair of this multi-sector network of NGOs, which works closely with both EEHC and WHO on environmental health issues.
Many of EPHA’s campaign and advocacy initiatives relate to environmental health issues such as air pollution, use of chemicals, accidents, and global warming. EPHA’s working group on environment and health provides strong direction, as do approaches from environmental NGOs who increasingly recognise the importance of including health groups in their campaigns. EPHA’s position on the "Precautionary Principle" has been widely appreciated, and many NGOs are currently urging that this issue should be taken up more strongly in relation to children’s health. Participation in regular eHEN and other meetings keeps EPHA in close contact with key developments and groups involved in children’s health and the environment.
