South Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Health Action Plan Draft Proposal Interagency Meeting on Environmental Health Marseille, France March 2012 _____________________________________________________________________________________ I- Background and Introduction 1. Water scarcity, poor water quality, and air pollution are the major contributing environmental factors to the burden of disease in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (SEMC). Nearly one quarter of the overall burden of disease in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean Countries (SEMC)1 is linked to environmental determinants2. Based on the WHO Country profiles for Environmental Burden of Disease, exposure to two risk factors have been identified as being responsible for most of this burden in SEMC. Limited or inadequate accesses to water, as well as outdoor and indoor air pollution, are responsible each for approximately 30,000 deaths per year. Although not yet estimated, but preliminary findings point to waste management as being a third critical risk factor. 2. Globally, the MENA Region is by far the least endowed when it comes to access to water (1.4 percent of world available resources). Each year water resources shrink to such an extent that the lack of water available for human consumption is recurrent and henceforth threatens almost all the countries in the region. Further, many countries in the region still suffer from poor water quality mainly linked to the poor management of sewage, the lack of sanitation, and industrial and agricultural pollution. Combined with poor hygiene practices, water scarcity and quality negatively impact on water-borne diseases and child malnutrition. 3. The SEMC are faced with a worrying increase in air pollution, especially in the large conurbations, due to the combined effect of demographic growth, urban concentration, economic development and use of low quality solid fuel and oil products. Beyond the effect of classic pollutants (CO, CO2, SOx, NOx), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) – one of the most poisonous compounds of atmospheric pollution for human health – is responsible for causing lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, as well as, cardiovascular diseases. Although less well-publicized, indoor air pollution also represents a risk to health in the region. Limited access to energy sources of higher fuel efficiency such as natural gas, liquefied petroleum products (LPG) and electricity favors the use of solid fuels such as dung, plant residues, firewood or charcoal. Exposure to hazardous by-products emitted by use of such solid fuels is at the origin of numerous respiratory diseases. 4. Climate change may further aggravate the environmental health burden in the region. This calls for strengthening adaptive capacities in SEMC. The SEMC are known to be one of the main hot 1
SEMC is a group of 9 countries, including: Morocco; Algeria; Tunisia; Libya; Egypt; Palestinian Territories; Jordan; Lebanon; and Syria. 2
“Managing the linkages for sustainable development – A toolkit for decision-makers”, p.16, WHO 2008 (http://www.who.int/healthinfo/global_burden_disease/GlobalHealthRisks_report_full.pdf); “Preventing disease through healthy environment”, p.9, WHO 2006 (http://www.who.int/quantifying_ehimpacts/publications/preventingdisease.pdf).