Archived press release

Important Conference Links Environment,Deprivation and Ill-Health

11 July 1996

On Friday 12th July at the Church House Conference Centre, Dean's Yard,Westminster, experts from the public and mental health professions will join environmentalists at a Friends of the Earth/Practitioners conference on health and the urban environment. Renowned speakers will make clear the causal connections between a deteriorating environment and worsening public health, with special emphasis on the impact of environmental problems on poorer communities [1].

This ground-breaking conference brings together policy makers and health professionals to show that cleaning-up the environment can help everyone's health, especially the poor and vulnerable, and that environmentally-based development policies would not only save lives and protect the planet, but make good economic sense as well [2].

Speaking at the conference, Dr Carolyn Stephens, from the World Health Organisation delegation at the recent United Nations Habitat Summit, will say:

"Environmental problems have their greatest effect on the most deprived people in our cities. Car owners in the suburbs inflict health problems on poorer people without cars who live in the inner city: air pollution, noise and danger. There is a 14-fold difference in road accidents for children between the richest and poorest families in our society. We need to put pressure on Government to make cities humane places to live."

Internationally renowned mental health expert Professor Hugh Freeman will say:

"The effects of environment on mental health have been neglected. Poor planning in our cities has had disastrous social effects. We need to recognise that quality of life in cities is an important aspect of health."

Dr Bent Fenger, co-ordinator of the Environment and Health Centre at the World Health Organisation, will stress that:

"Public participation is all-important. If we do not manage to mobilise public action, it may not be possible to enable Governments to deal with environmental health problems."

Continuing the theme of inequalities and health, Elizabeth Dowler, Lecturer in Nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said:

"People who live for years on Income Support find it difficult to buy a healthy diet. Street markets are disappearing. Out-of-town shopping developments have severely penalised poorer households. People know what to do, they just lack the means to do it."Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth, said:

"Millions of people in Britain suffer from air pollution, damp housing, contaminated drinking water and traffic congested streets. The costs of lost production and health care run into hundreds of millions of pounds each year, while our creaking National Health Service is the subject of hours of bitter political debate. Programmes to cut pollution and conserve resources like energy not only bring a higher quality of life for everyone, they can also save thousands of lives every year, and help the over-burdened NHS focus on less-easily resolved public-health problems." [2].

The conference will take place from 9.30-4.30 on Friday 12th July at the Church House Conference Centre, Dean's Yard, Westminster. It is hosted by Friends of the Earth and the Association of General Practice in Urban Deprived Areas (AGUDA).

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] There are 8 million households living in fuel poverty, unable to achieve affordable warmth because of energy inefficiency. Tackling cold and damp housing would save the NHS 1000 million a year through reductions in the treatment of resulting illnesses. 42,000 lives would be saved each year if the health of the poorest in society was of the same standard as the richest. 19 million people live in areas which fail air quality guidelines. 11,200 deaths occur from air pollution each year. Over 5 million people were exposed to lead in their drinking water higher than WHO standards in 1992. Only 9% of 8 year olds go to school unaccompanied-down from 80% 20 years ago. Fitness levels are low and around 50% of the population is over-weight. Increasing the number of regular cyclists by 10% would reduce heart disease nationally by 4%.

[2] The Government launched its National Environmental Health Action Plan on Monday. The plan mainly reiterates existing policies, has little analysis of the extent of the environmental health problems affecting British people, and puts forward few new actions to deal with the many problems which remain. Independently commissioned research for FOE by the South East Institute of Public Health released this week shows that the UK will fail to meet 7 out of 9 of its international commitments on Health and the Environment.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust