Agence France Presse
December 9, 2005

ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE THREATENS HUMAN HEALTH: WHO
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE THREATENS HUMAN HEALTH, SAYS NEW REPORT

BANGKOK -- Environmental damage threatens human health and may have
contributed to the spread of new diseases like bird flu and SARS, the
World Health Organization said in a report Friday.

"Human health is strongly linked to the health of ecosystems, which
meet many of our critical needs," said Maria Neira, head of the WHO's
department to protect the human environment.

The four-year report warned that environmental changes were already
affecting human health and said the effects could grow over the next
50 years.

Changes in the way poultry are raised, with both large industrial
farms in richer nations and poor farmers who live in close contact
with their poultry, have helped make bird flu a global health concern,
the report said.

Viruses have more opportunity to evolve in the large farms, but if
they spread outside, poor people living close to birds have a better
chance of catching the disease.

"SARS may have entered the human population via wild species, also
raised domestically, and consumed as food in China. It is clear that
ecosystem change, including changed biodiversity, influences the risk
of transmission of many diseases to humans," the report said.

Other environmental changes have endangered basic human needs -- like
fresh water, clean air and a stable climate -- especially for people
in poor countries, it said.

Water-borne diseases kill 3.2 million a year, accounting for about six
percent of all deaths, the report noted. More than one billion people
have no access to clean drinking water, while 2.6 billion lack proper
sanitation.

Water also affects nutrition, as weakened fish stocks contribute to
malnutrition in some 800 million people.

More effective farming techniques have helped improve nutrition but
those benefits are not spread equally around the world, said Carlos
Corvalan, the WHO's lead expert on the report.

"The benefits should be acknowledged," he said.

"But these benefits are not enjoyed equally. And the risks we face now
from ecosystem degradation, particularly among poor populations
directly depending on their natural ecosystems for many basic needs,
has to be addressed."

Copyright 2005 Agence France-Presse.