The first
Meeting of the Health and Environment Ministers of the Americas
was held from 4-5 March 2002 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The
meeting was organized by the Canadian Departments of Health and
Environment, in cooperation with the Pan American Health
Organization (PAHO) and the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP). Twenty-nine Ministers of Health and/or Environment from
countries in the Americas gathered for the meeting, which was also attended
by over 150 other representatives of governments,
intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and United
Nations agencies. Canada's Minister of Environment, David
Anderson, and Minister of Health, Anne McLellan, facilitated the
meeting and moderated the discussions.
The
meeting aimed to build bridges between the health and
environment sectors to address common issues, strengthen
countries' capacities to manage health and environment issues
effectively, establish follow-up mechanisms, and contribute to
the upcoming World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in
Johannesburg. To achieve these aims, participants met in Plenary
sessions focusing on the following issues: building bridges
between the health and environment sectors and setting future
directions; establishing issues of common concern and shared
goals; and building and sharing capacities to address
environmental threats to human health.
The
meeting concluded with the adoption of a Ministerial Communiqué
on health and environment that will feed into the WSSD and
Summit of the Americas processes. The Communiqué established an
agenda and an ongoing process for future work on environment and
health issues.
Canada's Minister of Environment, David
Anderson, and Minister
of Health, Anne McLellan, facilitated the
meeting and moderated
the discussions.
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Janine Ferretti,
Executive Director of the Commission for
Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), presented a case study on
the
elimination of DDT use for malaria control.
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Juan Mayr, Colombia's
Minister of Environment, participated
in the
meeting.
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Ministers and other
government representatives during discussions
on the role
of knowledge in providing the basis for policy responses
and actions to address environmental threats to human
health.
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Ministers discuss the
draft Ministerial Communiqué.
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Canada's Health
Minister, Anne McLellan (far right), makes her
closing
remarks during the meeting's final session.
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