'The WHO Guide to sanitation in natural disasters (Assar, 1971) summarized the essential aspects of environmental health management in disasters. These included the provision of emergency water and sanitation services; the burial or cremation of the dead; vector and pest control; food hygiene; and the assessment of the danger of epidemics following emergencies and disasters, etc. Thirty years later these aspects remain essential, though the needs, challenges and opportunities are greater.

The more...

'Every year some 3.4 million people, mostly children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. Over half of the hospital beds in the world are filled with people suffering from water- and sanitation-related diseases.

In 2002, participants in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, made a commitment to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by the year 2015. The United Nations Deve more...

Although all minerals and raw materials contain radionuclide of natural origin, only certain work activities involving such materials can give rise to significantly enhanced exposures that may need to be controlled by regulation. Material giving rise to these enhanced exposures is known as naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) and exposure to such material was the subject of the NORM V symposium held in Seville in March 2007. These proceedings contain all oral presentations and reporte more...

World Resources 2008 argues that properly designed enterprises can create economic,
social, and environmental resilience that cushion the impacts of climate change, and help provide needed social stability. Increased resilience must be part of the response to the
risks of climate change. The efforts that foster resilience chart the first steps on the path
out of poverty

The Japanese government promotes dispersed energy systems such as combined heat and power (CHP) and fuel cells, as part of its policy to achieve a 6% greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to 1990 levels. Osaka Gas develops CHP systems fueled by natural gas for power generation and thermal energy utilization through recovery of its waste heat

Germans have slashed greenhouse-gas emissions without sacrificing profits.
What their secret?

Population growth. Water scarcity. Degraded ecosystems. Forced migration. Resource depletion. Pandemic disease. Since 1994, the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) has explored the connections among these major challenges and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy. Through publications, meetings, and events, ECSP promotes dialogue about the environmental, health, and population dynamics that affect both developing and developed nations.

This project will focus on planting and managing trees in public areas and private backyards, providing the greatest potential for improving the local environment and helping curb pollution.

The World Water Week in Stockholm is the leading annual global meeting place for capacity-building, partnership-building and follow-up on the implementation of international processes and programmes in water and development. The theme of the week is Progress and Prospects on Water: For a Clean and Healthy World with Special Focus on Sanitation.

Safer water for better health -- the first-ever report depicting country-by-country estimates of the burden of disease due to water, sanitation and hygiene highlights how much disease could be prevented through increased access to safe water and better hygiene.

This comprehensive overview provides the epidemiological evidence and economic arguments for fully integrating water, sanitation and hygiene in countries' disease reduction strategies -- a pre-requisite to achieving the Millennium Deve more...