WHO pushes environmental health agenda

The World Health Organisation (WHO) held an event alongside the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference last week with the aim of bringing public health into the spotlight.

According to a report by CNN, WHO hosted the conference to raise awareness of the dangers climate change poses to public health.

Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum, a scientist in WHO's public health and environment department, commented: "We're reminding people that climate change is not just an environmental issue or an economic issue – it's a health issue that's actually about people's survival."

WHO director of public health and the environment Dr Maria Neria told the news provider that problems, such as malnutrition and malaria, will be exacerbated by climate change.

According to WHO statistics, millions of people die every year as a result of these illnesses.

However, officials explained that drought is likely to present the most significant health risk.

Last week, world leaders, who were in Copenhagen for the UN's Climate Change Conference, failed to reach a legally binding agreement on measures to tackle global warming.

Despite this, an accord was reached to create a $100 billion (£61.98 billion) fund by 2020 to be distributed to poor nations to help them deal with the consequences of climate change.

Posted by Lauren Steadman