ISDE Italia News

edited by ISDE Italy (Associazione Medici per l'Ambiente)

 

Number 310 (2nd September 2008)

 

In this issue………

-        Mental health in family medicine.

-        The National Cycle Network Route user monitoring report for 2007.

-        Gaia, the earth system and provider of humanity's habitat.

-        “A community guide to environmental health” by J. Conant and P. Fadem.

-        New Earth Rising 2008: ecological internet's final mid-year appeal for support.

-        Climate alert: dear Al Gore, we need the full truth regarding actions sufficient to avert catastrophic climate change.

-        Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM).

-        “Environmental and health impacts of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBS) and measures for phase-out of pcbs in Pakistan” by Mahmood A. Khwaja and Jan Glavin.

-        Report from “Climate change and the challenges for public health: engaging the Regions”.

-        Global corruption report 2008: corruption in the water sector.

-        “Commentary: still dying of ignorance? Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention strategies revisited” by Margaret May.

-        “A community guide to environmental health” by J. Conant and P. Fadem.

-        Health and environmental concerns regarding the fluoridation of drinking water.

 

MENTAL HEALTH IN FAMILY MEDICINE

This is the first number 2008 of the official journal of the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) working party on mental health. “Mental Health in Family Medicine” welcomes original papers and correspondence from all those involved in research, education, development, policy and delivery of mental health in primary care. Articles should contain materials of relevance to primary care mental health or mental health within the family context worldwide.

Info: www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rmp/mhfm

 

THE NATIONAL CYCLE NETWORK ROUTE USER MONITORING REPORT FOR 2007

This is Substrans’ report on usage of National Cycle Network during 2007. It shows that a total of 354 million walking and cycling trips were made on the Network during last year. In recent years, as you will see from the report, the goal was expanding and improving local access, enabling many more people to walk and cycle for everyday journeys to school, to the shops and to work, as well as for pleasure. This is the eighth year in succession that usage has increased, and it is growing much faster than the Network is extending in length from under 5,000 miles to just over 12,000.

Info: http://www.sustrans.org.uk/webfiles/rmu/route_monitoring_report_end%2007.pdf; http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp

 

GAIA, THE EARTH SYSTEM AND PROVIDER OF HUMANITY'S HABITAT

Source: http://freepage.twoday.net/stories/5052772/

There are very few selflessly telling truth these days. Gaia, the Earth system and provider of humanity's habitat, is imploding and ecosystem loss and an inoperable atmosphere mean we are moving towards a horrific death for most if not all life. Yet, perhaps in the nick of time, there is a new breed of environmentalists imbued with a revolutionary spirit of action, speaking ecological truth, and willing and able to take sufficient action on behalf of Mother Earth. It’s necessary a profound societal and personal transformation adequate to sustain being and ourselves.

Info: glenbarry@earthmeanders.com

 

A COMMUNITY GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH by J. Conant and P. Fadem.

It is clear what it means to improve the health of a child or of a family. But how do you improve the health of the environment? When we talk about environmental health, we mean the way our health is affected by the world around us, and also how our activities affect the health of the world around us. If our food, water, and air are contaminated, they can make us sick. If we are not careful about how we use the air, water, and land, we can make ourselves and the world around us sick. By protecting our environment, we protect our health.

Info: http://www.hesperian.info/assets/EHB/EnviroBook4DL.pdf

 

NEW EARTH RISING 2008: ECOLOGICAL INTERNET'S FINAL MID-YEAR APPEAL FOR SUPPORT

Ecological Internet's (EI) crucial mid-year fund-raiser is concluding. We strongly believe our ecological science based, biocentric information for action, offers something special to the online green community. EI's mission is to empower the global movement for environmental sustainability by providing portal services, information retrieval tools, expert analysis and action opportunities that aid in the protection of climate, forests, water, and ocean ecosystems; and to commence the age of ecological sustainability and restoration. Ecological Internet's projects include: EcoEarth.Info, Climate Ark, Forests.org, Water Conserve, Rainforest Portal, Ocean Conserve, My.EcoEarth.Info.

Info: http://www.ecoearth.info/; http://www.ecologicalinternet.org/

 

CLIMATE ALERT: DEAR AL GORE, WE NEED THE FULL TRUTH REGARDING ACTIONS SUFFICIENT TO AVERT CATASTROPHIC CLIMATE CHANGE

Souce: Climate Ark http://www.climateark.org and EcoEarth.Info http://www.ecoearth.info

Take action: encourage Mr. Gore to tell the full truth regarding the magnitude of actions required for climate change solutions, including advocating for an end to coal and ancient forest

logging, and personal sacrifice including reduced consumption. Al Gore is a global hero for the work he has done since leaving government to promote awareness regarding climate change. Mr. Gore's efforts continue to do a disservice to prospects for achieving global ecological sustainability by downplaying the immense social and personal transformations necessary, including personal sacrifice, to build a low-carbon economic system that does not further undermine our shared biosphere. And frankly, it is sad to see someone of Mr. Gore's skills, resources and contacts not choose to lead by example and seek to dramatically reduce his own carbon emissions. Tell Mr. Gore if he really believes climate change is truly a global emergency threatening civilization, he should be leading by example and organizing mass protests in support of a rigorous and sufficient biocentric climate plan.

Info: http://www.climateark.org/shared/alerts/send.aspx?id=al_gore_full_truth

 

STRATEGIC APPROACH TO INTERNATIONAL CHEMICALS MANAGEMENT (SAICM)

This is a booklet that introduce the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), a global policy and strategy that was adopted by governments and stakeholders to protect human health and ecosystems from the harms caused by exposure to toxic chemical substances. IPEN intended audience is organizations of civil society for whom chemical safety is a topic of concern. These include public health and environmental advocacy organizations; organizations of medical and healthcare professionals; organizations representing communities or constituencies potentially impacted by toxic chemical exposure; trade unions; and others. IPEN is working on the translations to other languages and will post them all as soon as they are available.

Info: http://www.ipen.org/campaign/education.html (under “Educational Materials”)

 

ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH IMPACTS OF POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS) AND MEASURES FOR PHASE-OUT OF PCBS IN PAKISTAN by Mahmood A. Khwaja and Jan Glavin.

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs), including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), have become a vital issue to mankind due to their hazardous nature. These chemicals, often called "Dirty Dozen", do not degrade readily and can travel thousands of miles away from their sources. In Pakistan, the problem of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) including PCBs has not been a priority environmental issue.

If you want this article you can ask it to our secretariat at isde@ats.it

 

REPORT FROM “CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE CHALLENGES FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: ENGAGING THE REGIONS”

Health authorities discuss climate change. More than 60 participants at the "Climate change and the challenge for public health: Engaging the regions" meeting produced conference recommendations on public health and climate change. The meeting was jointly organised by the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and European REGional Local Health Authorities (EUREGHA) at the Committee of the Regions, Brussels on 24th June 2008. One of the recommendations is that the EU's domestic emissions cuts should be of at least 30% by 2020 rather than the EU's existing target of 20%. Other recommendations include the development of national and regional communication and awareness raising activities on climate change for the health sector, and further research on the co-benefits to health of climate change mitigation efforts.

Info: www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Climate_Change_and_Health
_Engaging_the_Regions_Conference_Recommendations.pdf;

jana@env-health.org ;
www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Competition_Entries.pdf;
www.env-health.org/IMG/pdf/Public_health_climate_change_brochure_final_.pdf

 

GLOBAL CORRUPTION REPORT 2008: CORRUPTION IN THE WATER SECTOR

More than 1 billion people live with inadequate access to safe drinking water, with dramatic consequences for lives, livelihoods and development. Transparency International’s Global Corruption Report 2008 demonstrates in its thematic section that corruption is a cause and catalyst for this water crisis, which is likely to be further exacerbated by climate change. Corruption affects all aspects of the water sector, from water resources management to drinking water services, irrigation and hydropower. In this timely report, scholars and professionals document the impact of corruption in the sector, with case studies from all around the world offering practical suggestions for reform. The second part of the Global Corruption Report 2008 provides a snapshot of corruption-related developments in thirty-five countries from all world regions. The third part presents summaries of corruption-related research, highlighting innovative methodologies and new empirical findings that help our understanding of the dynamics of corruption and in devising more effective anti-corruption strategies. The Global Corruption Report 2008 was produced with kind financial support from the Water Integrity Network (WIN).

Info: http://www.transparency.org/publications/gcr

 

COMMENTARY: STILL DYING OF IGNORANCE? HUMAN IMMUNODEFICIENCY VIRUS (HIV) PREVENTION STRATEGIES REVISITED by Margaret May.

People are not dying of ignorance, but of lack of implementation of scientific knowledge. The theme for the AIDS 2004 conference in Bangkok, Thailand, is “Access for All” reflecting the need for us to make the multitude of scientific knowledge and experience accessible to all, at every level of the fight against HIV/AIDS. It is to be hoped that the AIDS 2004 conference will act as further impetus in mobilizing the political will of all nations to tackle the problem of HIV infection which is the real WMD threatening global security and peace.

If you want to receive the article by Margaret May on AIDS prevention you can ask it to our secretariat at isde@ats.it

 

A COMMUNITY GUIDE TO ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH by J. Conant and P. Fadem.

Jeff Conant, Project Coordinator and Editor of Hesperian’s “A Community Guide to Environmental Health” is available for interviews to discuss Hesperian’s unique collaborative process for creating their “How-to Books” as well as to share stories of the global grassroots efforts to solve environmental problems presented in A Community Guide to Environmental Health. Written collaboratively with the help of 120 communities and issue specialists from over 33 countries, A Community Guide to Environmental Health is a remarkable tool kit that instructs people how to tackle everything from improving access to safe drinking water to organizing against oil companies polluting their water and land. The book is a collection of best practices from communities worldwide that address both the immediate symptoms of environmental threats as well as the root causes of environmental problems. Topics covered in the book include: Preventing and Reducing Harm from Toxic Pollution; Protecting Community Water and Watersheds; Forestry - Restoring Land and Planting Trees; Food Security and Sustainable Farming; Solid Waste and Health Care Waste; and How to Reduce Harm from Mining and Oil Development. Throughout the book, the focus is on creating sustainable forms of development that promote local, community-based food security, clean energy and an overall healthy local environment.

Info: http://www.hesperian.org/

 

HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS REGARDING THE FLUORIDATION OF DRINKING WATER

Source: Office of the Auditor General of Canada.

The petitioner is seeking responses from several departments on the addition of fluoride (hydrofluorosilicic acid) to our drinking water, which she alleges includes arsenic, lead and other toxic substances. She is asking departments to provide toxicology studies demonstrating the safety of the chemical compounds currently used to fluoridate drinking water. The petitioner is also requesting that departments warn those involved in the fisheries industry of the effects of water fluoridation to our ecosystem. She is also asking what departments plan to do to protect children and other groups at risk (e.g. diabetics) from fluoride in water and food.

Info: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/esd_pet_221_e_30308.html

 

This newsletter is ISDE Italy's Official Press Organ edited by Roberto Romizi e Silvia Caruso.

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