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First Inter-ministerial Conference on
Health and Environment in Africa
26–29 August 2008 | Libreville, Gabon
Highlights for Wednesday, 27 August 2008 |
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On their second day of work, Health and Environment experts from across Africa met in parallel working groups on Wednesday, 27 August 2008 to consider four topics. These are: the policy frameworks for addressing health and environmental impacts; health impact assessment; the economic and development dimensions of environmental risk factors to human health; and international legislative and regulatory frameworks. The experts also attended a side event on the eco-health approach, organized by the Community of Practice Ecohealth for West and Central Africa (COPES-AOC).
Among the issues that attracted lengthy debate in the working groups was a suggestion, in the context of policy frameworks, that the environment ranks low on the national development agenda. The experts also debated whether environmental or health impact assessments would take precedence in developing the environmental health agenda. Regarding economic and development dimensions of environmental risk factors to human health, many participants underscored the need for strong economic development policies to drive development whilst addressing the links between health and environment. On international legislative and regulatory frameworks, much of the discussion centered on the need for their regional and national implementation and enforcement.
The experts reconvened in an afternoon plenary to consider the draft Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment in Africa. They undertook a paragraph-by-paragraph examination of the first four preambular paragraphs that address the agreements and principles to be reaffirmed, express deep concern at the level of environmental degradation and related health risks, state the environmental effects on health and the measures needed, and underscore the necessity of a strategic alliance between the health and environment sectors to address these gaps. A drafting group was subsequently set up to revise, shorten and structure the preamble. Plenary moved on to consider the operative paragraphs on the actions that ministers of health and environment set out to achieve. A wide range of views were captured by the Bureau, and the drafting group was charged with working on the text for further consideration in plenary on Thursday morning, 28 August.
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