世卫组织总干事陈冯富珍博士对联合国环境大会的视频致辞

Message to the UN Environment Assembly

Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization

Greetings from the World Health Organization in Geneva.

As threats from major infectious diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria continue to decline, other preventable killers become more visible. The harm caused by air pollution and exposure to hazardous environmental chemicals is the new epidemic demanding urgent attention in the era of sustainable development.

The numbers are stunning. WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year from exposure to hazards lurking in the environment; some 7 millions of these deaths are attributed to air pollution, which is now the single largest environmental risk to health. We know too that air pollution is fueling the striking rise of non-communicable diseases. Worldwide, air pollution is responsible for one-third of deaths from lung cancer, stroke and respiratory diseases.

Public health cannot tackle a problem of this magnitude – using conventional tools like vaccines and medicines – our long collaboration with UNEP has built a solid platform for joint action, but we also need full engagement from the energy, transport and finance sectors. The United Nations Environment Assembly of UNEP is a supreme body governing international environmental affairs. I thank you for making such a strong link between healthy environments and healthy people, and wish you a most productive meeting.  

Thank you.