Project news
n/a The network of the non-governmental organizations of Finland and Russia since November 1, 2007 ceases its activity.
В Санкт-Петербурге по отдельным направлениям программы «Сеть НГО Финляндии и России» можно обращаться в ИАЦ НГО, Владимирский пр. 17А, оф. 403, т./ф. (812) 329 5351, м. +7-921-939 5590, Анна Скворцова – директор ИАЦ НГО, skvortsova@peterlink.ru
Контакт в Петрозаводске: Любовь Савина, savinango@onego.ru
23/10/2007 WHO calls for global action to "protect health from climate change"
23 OCTOBER 2007 | GENEVA -- As momentum for action on climate change continues to grow, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that it will focus its World Health Day 2008 theme on “protecting health from climate change.”
The World Health Organization was born out of international commitment to build global security and peace. Sixty years later, that same sense of vulnerability and solidarity is bringing the global community together to address the growing threat of climate change to public health security.
"Just as health and wellbeing was seen as a defining aspect of peace and security," notes Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General," so too, the health and wellbeing of populations must become the defining measure of the impact of climate change and our efforts to address it effectively". Climate change is finding itself in an increasingly central position on the international agenda, as most recently evidenced by the Nobel Prize awarded to former US Vice President Al Gore and a team of UN experts for their work on the subject. Today, it is becoming clearer that sustainable development leads to healthy environments and enhanced public health.
"Health professionals are on the front line in dealing with the impacts of climate change. The most vulnerable populations are those who live in countries where the health sector already struggles to prevent, detect, control and treat diseases and health conditions, including malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea. Climate change will highlight and exacerbate these weaknesses by bringing new pressures on public health, with greater frequency".
“We need to put public health at the heart of the climate change agenda," Dr Chan added. "This includes mobilizing governments and stakeholders to collaborate on strengthening surveillance and control of infectious diseases, safer use of diminishing water supplies, and health action in emergencies."
On World Health Day 2008, communities and organizations around the world will host activities to establish greater awareness and public understanding of health consequences of climate change, and to show the impact of the growing interdependency between these two areas on national and international decisions and policies.
About World Health Day
World health Day was created in 1948 by the First World Health Assembly to mark the founding of the World Health Organization. World Health Day takes place on 7 April annually and serves to raise awareness of key global public health challenges. World Health Day 2008 will mark the 60th anniversary of WHO.
For further information, please contact:
Climate change and health
Ms Christine McNab
Telephone: +41 22 791 4688
E-mail: mcnabc@who.int
Dr Maria Neira
Telephone: +41 22 791 5526
E-mail: neiram@who.int
WHO 60th anniversary and World Health Day 2008
Ms Andrée Pinard Clark
Telephone: +41 22 791 4670
E-mail: who60@who.int
n/a New guide on building age-friendly cities
1 OCTOBER 2007 | LONDON/GENEVA -- WHO today releases the first guide on age-friendly cities. The guide, which is based on consultations with older people in 33 cities in 22 countries, has identified the key physical, social and services attributes of age-friendly urban settings. Istanbul, London, Melbourne, Mexico City, Moscow, Nairobi, New Delhi, New York, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, and Tokyo were part of the consultation along with many other regional centres and towns.
The publication titled Global age-friendly cities: a guide is being launched in London and in Geneva on the occasion of International Day of Older Persons. Other events will take place over the next 10 days in Buenos Aires, New York and Rio de Janeiro. Cities that collaborated in the consultation are planning to address the barriers that have been identified and many others want to adopt the guide. Led by New York, other cities are exploring what makes cities more age-friendly for increasing older migrant populations.
"Age-friendly cities benefit people of all ages, not just older people, and WHO is committed to disseminating and promoting the implementation of the guide worldwide," said Mrs Daisy Mafubelu, WHO Assistant Director-General for Family and Community Health.
Aimed at urban planners
The guide is aimed primarily at urban planners, but older citizens can use it to monitor progress towards more age-friendly cities. At its heart is a checklist of age-friendly features. For example, an age-friendly city has sufficient public benches that are well-situated, well-maintained and safe, as well as sufficient public toilets that are clean, secure, accessible by people with disabilities and well-indicated. Other key features of an age-friendly city include:
well-maintained and well-lit sidewalks;
public buildings that are fully accessible to people with disabilities;
city bus drivers who wait until older people are seated before starting off and priority seating on buses;
enough reserved parking spots for people with disabilities;
housing integrated in the community that accommodates changing needs and abilities as people grow older;
friendly, personalized service and information instead of automated answering services;
easy-to-read written information in plain language;
public and commercial services and stores in neighbourhoods close to where people live, rather than concentrated outside the city; and
a civic culture that respects and includes older persons.
The growing proportion of older people in our population is an established trend. Their share in the global population is predicted to double from 11% in 2006 to 22% in 2050. At the same time, our world is growing increasingly urban: as of 2007, more than half of the global population are urban dwellers and by 2030 about three out of every five people in the world are expected to live in cities.
These trends are occurring at a much faster rate in the developing world: currently, the number of older people in developing countries is about twice the number in developed countries. By 2050, some 80% of the older people will be living in less developed regions.
"Older people are concentrated in cities and will become even more so," said Dr Alex Kalache, Director of the WHO Ageing and Life Course Programme. "Today around 75% of all older people living in the developed world are urban dwellers - expected to increase to 80% in 2015. More spectacularly, in developing countries the number of older people in cities will increase from 56 million in 2000 to over 908 million in 2050."
The guide is already being used in several parts of the world to initiate age-friendly city development. Networks are being developed in Brazil, Canada, Japan, Spain, the UK, the Caribbean Region and the Middle East.
For further information, please contact:
Ms Carla Salas-Rojas
Communications Officer, Ageing and Life Course
WHO, Geneva
Tel.: +41 22 791 4944
Mobile: +41 76 368 7114
E-mail: salasrojasc@who.int
Mr Christopher Powell
Communications Adviser
Family and Community Health
WHO, Geneva
Tel:. +41 22 791 2228
Mobile +41 79 217 3425
E-mail: powellc@who.int
15/05/2007 New initiative seeks practical solutions to tackle health worker migration
15 MAY 2007 | GENEVA -- The Health Worker Migration Policy Initiative held its first meeting today at the WHO headquarters in Geneva. The initiative, led by Mary Robinson, President of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative, and Dr Francis Omaswa, Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance (GHWA), is aimed at finding practical solutions to the worsening problem of health worker migration from developing to developed countries.
n/a With the financial support of AFEW a round-table on ‘HIV/AIDS as a Business Issue: The Corporate Response to the Epidemic in Russia’ was held in St. Petersburg
On 20 October 2005, Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS (TPAA) held a round-table in St. Petersburg on ‘HIV/AIDS as a Business Issue: The Corporate Response to the Epidemic in Russia.’ The round-table was made possible by financial support from AFEW in the framework of the GLOBUS project, and was part of an international conference on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights. In Russia a number of leading companies have already recognised the need for determined efforts to prevent the spread of HIV. Accordingly, the round-table participants discussed ways in which companies can protect their workers and raise awareness among their clients. The participants included representatives of AvtoVAZ, Unilever, BP, and Coca-Cola.
|
