The Health Effects Institute
"A Partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Industry"
Joint WHO/HEI Meeting on Particulate Air Pollution
Brussels, Belgium
6 and 7 March 2001
Welcome Address of Dr W. Kreisel on behalf of the World Health Organization"Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this conference on behalf of the World Health Organization. This conference is organized in partnership with the Health Effects Institute and in collaboration with the European Commission. It addresses one of the key concerns in environmental health in Europe and worldwide: the health impact of particulate matter.
Information on air pollution and its health, environmental, and economic impacts is essential for rational air pollution management.
Current knowledge calls for substantial investments to reduce pollutant emissions. However, air pollution reductions may be difficult to achieve, especially in countries with severe resource constraints and competing objectives.
In response to the specific needs expressed by countries and international recommendations, WHO’s main role covers a broad range of risk assessment and normative work on air quality and health. In this context, WHO’s key functions include to foster knowledge and understanding of the global, regional and local disease burden of air pollution as a basis for environmental policy and legislation. Within this framework, WHO promotes research of regional and global significance and it provides worldwide guidance to countries on the mitigation of harmful effects.
I was privileged to do this myself more than 20 years ago as a WHO AQM Advisor in the Republic of Korea. Concentrations of PM and SO2 in Seoul were very high, particularly during winter months with strong inversions. In the early '80s Professor Ferris from the Harvard School of Public Health visited Seoul and presented the first results of the Six-City-Study in the United States. Certainly, even based on our limited knowledge at that time, the adverse health consequences of these concentrations in Seoul, based on simple comparisons, will have been significant. Moreover, based on my own assessment PM10 levels (which at that time could not be easily measured routinely ) were high due to the sources of emissions –among others thousands of buses driven by Diesel engines which were poorly maintained and had to carry heavy loads. Only huge investments in comprehensive air pollution control measures, eg replacing fuels, improving combustion etc. could have lead and did in fact lead to significant improvements.
WHO’s normative work is leading to authoritative, evidence-based air quality guidelines which provide background information and guidance to Governments in making risk management decisions, particularly in setting national standards. WHO Guidelines for Air Quality are benchmarks of air quality management worldwide.
Also EC has used the WHO Guidelines for Air Quality as a basis for EU Directives on air quality, which are vital instruments of air quality control in the substantial part of the European Region of WHO. The recent signing of the Exchange of Letters between WHO and the EC on broadening and intensifying collaboration in the field of public health creates an even better framework for further effective interactions between these institutions in serving their Member States. The Joint EC/WHO Seminar on Environment and Health has further contributed to it.
This two-day meeting forms also part of WHO’s global effort to better understand the health effects and impacts of particulate matter. An important step in this direction has been made at the WHO/ European Commission Joint Research Centre meeting in Ispra, Italy on measuring particulate matter in epidemiological studies.
Many stakeholders involved in air pollution management are represented here today. The effective translation of scientific information into action for improving public health requires the involvement of policy makers and other stakeholders including representatives of responsible economic sectors, as recognized and re-emphasized by the 3rd Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, held in London in June 1999.
This meeting will provide an excellent opportunity to review and discuss the progress in recent research and its application to risk management in Europe.
I wish you an interesting and productive discussion."
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