VIDEO: OSCE PA Web Dialogue "Framing the Environmental Security – Public Health Nexus", 25 May 2021
COPENHAGEN, 24 May 2021 – Exploring the interconnections between environmental degradation and public health, also in the context of the ongoing health crisis, as well as encouraging dialogue between parliamentarians and the scientific world: this is the goal of the web dialogue "Framing the Environmental Security - Public Health Nexus," organized by the General Committee on Economic Affairs, Science, Technology and the Environment of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, with the scientific support of the Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), which will take place online tomorrow, Tuesday 25 May, from 14:30 to 17:00.
During the event, representatives of the scientific community will present to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly the evidence of the direct or indirect impacts of environmental pollution on health and climate change that threaten global security, recalling the need for more intense and targeted collaboration between countries in different areas of the world.
Already in 2016, the WHO estimated about 7 million a year of premature deaths related to air pollution, of which 550,000 in Europe, according to data from the European Environment Agency. “These are impressive figures that we have no real perception of, and which demonstrate how fragile our ecosystems are,” says Alessandro Miani, President of SIMA. "In the context of the Covid-19 emergency, the problem of poor air quality, especially in closed environments, has become crucial as the presence of pollutants significantly affects the risk of contagion, as well as the course of the disease. The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine has been working for months to make these risks evident and is pleased to collaborate with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in raising awareness among international policy makers on the urgent need to combat environmental degradation and pollution to protect the health and safety of citizens."
Secretary General Roberto Montella emphasized the relevance of political engagement in this context: "Parliamentarians play a decisive role in promoting and monitoring the implementation of international standards and in adopting forward-looking policies aimed at protecting the environment and the health of all of us. I am deeply proud that our Assembly acts more and more as a forum where experts and parliamentarians from all over the world share their respective experiences in this field with the aim of promoting policies to protect health, the planet and our collective safety."
Keynote speakers at tomorrow’s event are: Maria Neira, Director of the Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of Health Department at the World Health Organization; Veronica Manfredi, Director for Quality of Life in DG Environment, Directorate-General for Environment, European Commission; Jos Lelieveld, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Professor in Atmospheric Physics at Mainz University; John Ioannidis, Professor of Medicine, of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Stanford Prevention Centre; and Prisco Piscitelli, Vice-President, Italian Society of Environmental Medicine.
The online event will be held in English and can be followed on the website www.oscepa.org and on the Facebook page of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.
