Call to Review the World Health Organization’s Definition of Human Health at the 16th Global Warming International Conference in New York City
(New York, April 20, 2005)
Dr. Raymond Hayes and S. Taseer Hussain announced today a proposal to revisit the definition of the World Health Organization to reflect the new understandings of the 21st Century. At the 16th Global Warming International Conference, held in New York City, Dr. Hayes noted that the definition of health adopted by the WHO predates the advent of global climate change research and human genome research.
The World Health Organization’s definition of health was adopted by the International Health Conference in 1946, and has served institutions and people worldwide in defining the scope of public health. In 1946, however, the focus on health was different than today, as public health was dominated by high infant mortality rates, diseases like cholera, smallpox, and the plague, and shortages in medical care due to WWII. Since then, there have been dramatic changes in medical care, and the advent of gene research and understanding of global warming present new understandings of the issues that the world population will face in the years ahead. Dr. Hayes states, “The WHO definition has tremendous relevance to the modern world, and can continue to serve the needs of people if it is expanded to include an understanding of the findings of climate & genomic research.”
At the Global Warming Conference Series, experts including Hayes, Ando, and Wilson warn of long-term human health risks beyond what are currently considered by the WHO and call for attention to climate-sensitive diseases (Global Warming Science & Policy, Sinyan Shen, Global Warming International Center, USA, Clinical Epidemiology of Disease Associated with Global Warming and Climate Change, Raymond L. Hayes and S. Taseer Hussain, Howard Univ., USA; Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health: Future Research Directions, Samuel H. Wilson, National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, USA).
Research on the important subject of “Climate and the Evolution of Biological Species” has been supported by the Global Warming International Center since 1989. The Global Warming International Program Committee recognizes the importance of climate change-related human health research from early on and, since 1992, has included it as an independent session.
About Global Warming International Center (GWIC):
Founded in 1989 in Chicago, the Global Warming International Center (GWIC) is the earliest network of international experts from institutions, governments, international agencies, and industries, working on a wide range of fields which global warming needs to address:
- Economics of Global Warming Mitigation
- Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Air Pollution
- International Law and Global Warming
- Extreme Events Index
- El Niño and North Atlantic Oscillation
- Human Health and Global Warming
- Strengthening Improvements in Energy Efficiency
- Strengthening Improvements in Transportation Efficiency
- Strengthening Border Crossing Efficiency and Security
- Water Resource Management
- The Future in Agricultural and Forestry Resources
- Ecosystems and Biodiversity
With members in more than 165 countries, the GWIC sponsors unbiased research supporting the understanding and mitigation of global warming. GWIC publishes the World Resource Review, an international journal providing critical reviews of scientific and policy activities in environment and health.
Note to Editors: For further information, please contact James A. Roberts jroberts@globalwarming.net |
