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IFCS
Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety
Date 26 March 2004
Vol. 4 No. 3
Information Circular
UPDATE ON CHILDREN AND CHEMICAL SAFETY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES
TABLE OF CONTENTS

3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND THE
ENVIRONMENT

FOURTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH,
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 23-25 JUNE 2004 - 'THE FUTURE FOR OUR
CHILDREN'

EDUCATIONAL MATERIALS ON CHILDREN AND PESTICIDE EXPOSURE

CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT INFORMAL CONSULTATION
ON TRAINING MATERIALS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
INTRODUCTION
Children and chemical safety was a special focus of discussions at the Fourth Session of
the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (Forum IV), which was held in
Bangkok, Thailand, in November 2003. The growing evidence about the special
vulnerability of children exposed to serious health threats from their environments was
presented to the Forum in a detailed decision document, “Protecting Children from
Harmful Chemical Exposures” (IFCS/Forum IV/14w) and companion reference paper
(IFCS/Forum IV/11INF). These documents are available on the IFCS website at:
www.ifcs.ch.
The following conferences will provide excellent opportunities to raise awareness about
and advance the Forum IV recommendations.
3rd INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
The 3rd International Conference on Children's Health and the Environment will take
place in London on March 31- April 2 2004. This conference is organized by the
International Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety (INCHES), in
collaboration with the Policy Interpretation Network on Children's Health and
Environment (PINCHE) and the International Society of Doctors for the Environment
(ISDE).
The conference will explore the ongoing efforts to develop children-based policies. The
link between scientific knowledge and policy action will be a central theme of this 3rd
International Conference on Children's Health and Environment.
Further information including
http://www.pinche.hvdgm.nl
the Conference
Programme can be found at:
FOURTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ON ENVIRONMENT AND HEALTH,
BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, 23-25 JUNE 2004 - 'THE FUTURE FOR OUR CHILDREN'
The effects of a degraded environment on children’s health raise increasing concern.
Every year, unhealthy environments cause the death of more than 5 million children
worldwide. The Budapest Conference is the European response to this situation.
WHO/Europe has taken the lead in the action for children and has focused the
Conference on ‘The future for our children’.
The Budapest Conference is the fourth in a series started in 1989, bringing together
ministers of health and of environment and major stakeholders. European ministers are
expected to reach consensus and make political commitments to ensure safer
environments for children through the adoption of a Conference Declaration and of the
European action plan for children's health and environment (CEHAPE).
For more information, please visit:
http://www.euro.who.int/budapest2004
EDUCATION MATERIALS ON CHILDREN AND PESTICIDE EXPOSURE
For Healthy Kids! is a project of the Center for Child Environmental Health Risks
Research (CHC) at the University of Washington, U.S.A. In an effort to understand
whether educational activities could reduce harmful pesticide exposure to children in
agricultural communities, CHC has developed educational materials in both Spanish and
English for adults and children. The materials include: a pesticide safety handbook, a
head start curriculum, take-home pamphlets, a pesticide safety tips pamphlet, posters, a
coloring book and color maze, and a fourth grade curriculum.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.checnet.org/healthehouse/education/articles.asp
CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT INFORMAL CONSULTATION ON
TRAINING MATERIALS FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS
Forum IV recommended that governments, with support of stakeholders, particularly
WHO and UNICEF, should promote education and training on children's chemical safety.
Following this recommendation, an informal consultation was organized by WHO, from 7
to 10 March 2004, in Arezzo, Italy, in order to peer review, assess and discuss a set of
training materials for health care providers on children's health and the environment. The
meeting was hosted by the International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE
Italy).
A working group of medical professionals from academia, scientific associations, and
health organizations in ten different countries peer reviewed the first set of training
modules, including the following: Children are not little adults; Pediatric Environmental
History; Noise; Outdoor Air Pollution; Indoor Air Pollution; Lead; Mercury; Cancer and
Respiratory disease. The preparation of modules on Pesticides, Climate Change and
Household Products was initiated, and plans were established for the preparation of the
second set of draft modules.
This activity builds upon the recommendations of the Bangkok Statement (March 2002)
that urges WHO to promote the recognition, assessment and study of environmental
factors that have an impact on the health and development of children. More specifically,
to incorporate children’s environmental health into the training of health care providers
and to promote the use of the Pediatric Environmental History (Area 2: Health and
Research).
This peer review meeting follows-up the informal consultation on developing training
materials organized in WHO/HQ in July 2003 and the Ad Hoc meeting on the subject
held in Bangkok, at the time of the IFCS Forum IV, November 2003.
For further information, please visit: www.who.int/ceh (available after 1 April 2004)