Date: Sun, 1 Aug 1999 23:01:41 -0400
From: Colin Soskolne <[log in to unmask]>

> Dear Friends and Colleagues:
>
> Some of you are aware that I spent the past year on sabbatical leave with
> the European Centre for Environment and Health, World Health Organization,
> Rome Division.  My major activity resulted in a jointly-authored 74-page
> "Discussion Document" which can be accessed on the World Wide Web from the
> Home Page of the WHO Centre in Rome at: http://www.who.it and then click
> onto "What's New".  It's title is:

  "Global Ecological Integrity and 'Sustainable Development': Cornerstones
   of Public Health"
   by Colin Soskolne and Roberto Bertollini.

> You might find it to be both of considerable interest and relevance.
> The document can be accessed for downloading more directly by going to:
  http://www.who.it/docs/Ecorep5.pdf

> Please feel free to forward this NOTICE to any other colleagues,
> Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Government Agencies, stakeholders,
> friends, and any others that you feel may be interested in knowing of this
> document's existence.

> To save people accessing the WWW and perhaps then down-loading the whole
> document (74 pages) AND THEN finding that they had no need for any of it, I
> am including below four parts from the document covering 4 pages: its
> Preface, Executive Summary, Foreword and Table of Contents.  Reviewing these
> should help people to determine whether they would wish to access the full
> document and/or download it.
>
> Mechanisms for providing feedback on the Discussion Documemnt are contained
> in the document itself (on page 22).
>
> We look forward to hearing from you before the end of 1999 if you wish to
> comment on any aspect of the Discussion Document.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Colin L. Soskolne, Ph.D., F.A.C.E.
> Department of Public Health Sciences
> Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry
> 13-103 Clinical Sciences Building
> University of Alberta
> Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2G3
> ph: (780)492-6013
> fax: (780)492-0364
> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>
> ************************************************
>
> PREFACE:
>
> The discussion document "Global Ecological Integrity and 'Sustainable
> Development': Cornerstones of Public Health" stems from a Workshop arranged
> by the World Health Organization's European Centre for Environment and
> Health, Rome Division, December 3-4, 1998.  It was written by Colin Soskolne
> and myself and presents a summary of the Workshop discussion and subsequent
> exchanges of opinions of experts world wide.  We believe that global change
> has become an issue warranting public health involvement.  The public health
> community needs to face the challenges presented by global change and equip
> itself with the necessary scientific and technical means to anticipate and,
> where possible, prevent human health consequences arising from degrading
> life-support systems.  This document is neither intended to be conclusive
> nor to reflect a WHO position on these matters.  Rather, it is a
> contribution to the discussion on the human health consequences of global
> change.  It is provided for the scientific community at large as a basis for
> future thinking and planning in this area.  Comments, suggestions and
> criticisms are encouraged.  Inputs will be expanded upon at a larger
> Workshop in the near future. For communication purposes, please see page 22.
>
> Roberto Bertollini
> Director, Rome Division
> World Health Organization
> European Centre for Environment and Health
>
> ****************************************************
>
> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
>
> Humans, like other forms of life on Earth, are dependent upon the capability
> both of local ecosystems and of the global ecosphere for maintaining health.
> However, in relatively recent times, humans, particularly in industrialised
> countries, have developed an erroneous perception of being separate from
> nature's processes.
>
> Many different measurement techniques show that current global patterns of
> human activity  -- over-consumption, population growth and inappropriate use
> of technology --  are unsustainable and are likely to have profound
> consequences for human health.  Major changes in policies that govern
> society are to be sought if emerging trends in ecosystem degradation
> resulting from human activities are to be arrested.  Rational changes in
> policy will require the availability of scientific information appropriate
> to measuring global changes.
>
> Mainstream economics continues to assume that consumption-based economic
> growth is the essence of development, persistently disregarding questions of
> fairness and equity, and displaying an uncritical technological optimism.
> The "technological fix" ideology reaffirms the unfortunate belief that
> "human survival is independent of nature".  Human population health under
> such a model of development is placed at increasing risk as resources (i.e.,
> natural capital) decline and ecological systems fail.
>
> Potential solutions lie in models that focus more on social, informational
> and service-based "development" than on "growth".  The challenges for
> science and society are unprecedented. Vigorous public discourse, engaging
> all regions of the world and all sectors of society, is urgently needed.
> With public support, policy-makers would be enabled to acknowledge the
> problem and to implement corrective policies.
>
> Knowledge that transcends the boundaries of traditional scientific
> disciplines is necessary for achieving inter-disciplinary scientific
> understanding and consensus, and for reaching agreements among a plurality
> of societal interests and viewpoints in order to promote appropriate policy
> changes.  Indeed, trans-disciplinary and multi-stakeholder consensus are
> prerequisites for new forms of monitoring, surveillance and assessment of
> ecological changes as well as their impacts on population health.
>
> Because of WHO's strengthening commitment to healthy environments, social
> equity and sustainable development  --  essential ingredients for the
> improvement and maintenance of population health  --   it would be
> appropriate for the Organization to consider integrating the issue of
> failing life-support systems onto its agenda.  Tools to monitor and evaluate
> changes in the quality of life-support systems, their subsequent health
> effects and the effects of interventions will have to be developed.
> Engagement with this topic would require public health sciences to become
> proactive; their more typical reactive role of documenting the adverse
> health consequences of recent-past circumstances is no longer adequate under
> global change.
>
> The concerns raised in this discussion document are of great potential
> consequence.  They are also of an unfamiliar type and scale.  The challenge
> lies in communicating the message contained in this document in a credible
> way to the various constituencies by which it is intended to be taken
> seriously.
>
> **************************************************
>
> FOREWORD:
>
> In this discussion document we have attempted to synthesise current
> state-of-the-art scientific and philosophical knowledge covering the broad
> areas of global ecological integrity in relation to public health and with a
> view to "sustainable development".  We hope to extend the thinking embodied
> in previous reports cautioning about the implications for both human and
> other forms of life on earth should life-support systems be degraded.
> Life-support systems of concern include fresh and ocean waters, fisheries,
> forests, climate, soils, air, as well as biodiversity.  Current indications
> suggest that not only are certain life-support systems malfunctioning, but
> some are even collapsing.
>
> Concerns have been addressed about the ecological sustainability of
> life-support systems and its implications for human health.  Particular
> examples of note include the Stockholm Declaration of 1972, and the Club of
> Rome reports (see DPOR, Annex III) since the early 1970s.  Several others
> include the Brundtland Commission Report in 1987, and, more recently within
> the World Health Organization itself, the publication of "Our Planet, Our
> Health" in 1992.  Thus, almost all of the topics raised in this document
> have been addressed to some extent before.  Indeed, since biblical times
> (referring here to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: famine, pestilence,
> war and conquest), philosophers, scientists, thinkers and futurists have
> voiced concerns about the human health consequences of ecological
> degradation. Some cultures and religious groups continue to this day (e.g.,
> North American Indians and Buddhists) to believe in living in harmony with
> the environment.
>
> It is from the work of all those who have contributed to this discussion in
> the past that this document derives much of its basis and richness.  From
> the more recent period, which served as the major stimulus for the Workshop,
> the WHO publication "Our Planet, Our Health" broached many of these issues.
> Of particular note is Anthony J. McMichael's subsequent book, "Planetary
> Overload: Global Environmental Change and the Health of the Human Species".
> A few years later, in 1997, WHO's report "Health and Environment in
> Sustainable Development: Five Years after the Earth Summit" was published.
> More recently, McMichael and co-workers published their paper entitled
> "Globalisation and the sustainability of human health", which bridges the
> broad issue of ecological integrity (EI) with environmental epidemiology and
> public health.  The concerns raised continue to attract increasing
> attention.
>
> Where this document differs from its predecessors is in its framing of the
> issue and in its timing.  The information upon which concerns are now based
> draws upon more systematic data and reflects longer-term trends.  Hence, the
> concerns are more compelling.  Furthermore, the political climate now may
> have become more receptive to new priorities, packaged differently, in order
> to have access to options that are conducive to a sustainable future.  The
> combination of these circumstances means that the message contained in this
> document could actually trigger global actions where previous efforts,
> whether in the form of conference reports, books, agency reports or movies,
> did not.
>
> This discussion document also differs from all prior reports in that it
> calls upon WHO to recognise the issue of global ecological integrity as one
> of its foci for future activities.  It calls upon WHO to consider placing
> the issue squarely onto its agenda for health in the new millennium, working
> jointly with related UN agencies playing their respective full and
> integrated roles.
>
> The serious nature of the message stemming from the December 3-4, 1998,
> pilot Workshop suggests the need for a full-scale Workshop which would base
> its agenda on this discussion document.  The challenge for a future event
> will be to present its message in ways that will lead to determined and
> targeted research and policy actions.
>
> *********************************************
>
> TABLE OF CONTENTS:
>
> PREFACE
> EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
> READER'S GUIDE
> TABLE OF CONTENTS
> ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
> KEYWORDS
> LIST OF ACRONYMS
> FOREWORD
> INTRODUCTION
> SCOPE AND PURPOSE OF THE WORKSHOP
> OBJECTIVES
> PRIMARY WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE
> SECONDARY WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
> COMPOSITION OF THE WORKSHOP
> GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL INTEGRITY AND HUMAN HEALTH: THE SCIENTIFIC AND
> PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEXT
> GENERAL DISCUSSION
> GENERAL DISCUSSION PER WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE
> CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
> READING LIST
> LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
>
> ANNEXES
>
> ANNEX I: PRESENTATIONS
> A.  Global Change and Ecological Integrity: Quantifying the Limits to
> Growth, by W. Rees
> B.  A Community-Based Ecosystem Approach to Health, Socio-economic
> Development and Environmental Integrity, by D. Waltner-Toews
> C.  Introduction to Antibiotic Resistance, by M. Jermini
> D. Molecular Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance, by A. Carattoli
> E.  Rivers as Sentinels: Using the Biology of Rivers to Measure Ecological
> Health, by J. Karr
> F.  Impoverishment of Ecosystem Integrity and Community Health: A Tragedy in
> Appalachia, USA, by O. Loucks
> G.  Global Ecological Integrity and the Ethics of Integrity, by L. Westra
> H.  The Principle of Integrity: International Perspectives, by M.
> Tallacchini
> I.  Toward Measuring Whether Ecological Disintegrity Impacts Human Health,
> by C. Soskolne
>
> ANNEX II: SUBSEQUENT CREATIVE INSIGHTS
> 1.  Sustainable Health (or what's the point of all this work?), by D.
> Waltner-Toews
> 2.  Public Health: A Threat To Global Ecological Integrity?  (DRAFT:
> 08/01/99), by G. Hess
> 3.  Nature in the Era of its Technical Reproducibility: An Anthropological
> Turn?, by P. Vineis
> 4.  Genocide, Epicide, Ecocide, Ecology and Public Health: A Thought Piece,
> by E. Richter
>
> ANNEX III: DIRECTORY OF PERSONNEL AND ORGANISATIONAL RESOURCES (DPOR)
>
> ************************************************
>
>
>