Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health
The series of ministerial conferences on environment and health is unique, since they bring together different sectors to shape European policies and actions on environment and health. The first conference was held in Frankfurt in 1989, followed by Helsinki in 1994, London in 1999 and Budapest in 2004. The Fourth Ministerial Conference focused on the measures that countries can take to address the impacts of environmental risk factors on children's health, and it adopted the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) to help protect future generations. An intergovernmental mid-term review in 2007 in Vienna noted progress on the Budapest commitments and identified the priorities for the Fifth Ministerial Conference.
The health impacts of environmental risk factors - inadequate water and sanitation, unsafe home and recreational environments, lack of spatial planning for physical activity, indoor and outdoor air pollution, and hazardous chemicals - are amplified by recent developments including financial constraints, broader socioeconomic and gender inequalities and more frequent extreme climate events. They pose new challenges for health systems and environmental services to improve health through effective environmental health interventions as well as to safeguard environmental components.
At the Fifth Ministerial Conference, organized by the WHO Regional Office for Europe and hosted by the Government of Italy in Parma, ministers of health and of the environment, key partners and experts met to assess the progress made since the First European Conference on Environment and Health (Frankfurt, 1989).
Governments from northern, western, central, southern and eastern Europe adopted a declaration pledging to reduce the adverse health impact of environmental threats in the next decade. The text was endorsed by 53 Member States attending the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in Parma, Italy on 10-12 March 2010.
Through the Declaration and Commitment to Act, participating governments agreed to implement national programmes to provide equal opportunities to each child by 2020 by ensuring access to safe water and sanitation, opportunities for physical activity and a healthy diet, improved air quality and an environment free of toxic chemicals.
Governments vowed to tackle the adverse health impact of climate change and to reduce social and gender inequalities in exposure to risk. They also pledged to place health at the centre of socioeconomic development through increased investment in new technologies and green jobs.
Climate change and health - a priority for action
In this first major gathering of health and environment ministers since the Copenhagen conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change last December, European governments pledged to integrate health issues into climate change mitigation and adaptation measures, policies and strategies in all sectors.
Evidence is growing that climate change is contributing to an increase in the frequency of natural disasters, such as heat-waves, floods and droughts. Since 1990, the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT) has recorded more than 1200 natural events in the WHO European Region, affecting over 48 million people and causing more than 112 000 deaths, at an estimated loss of more than US$ 241 billion.
Future work will be based on a new European regional framework for action, entitled "Protecting health in an environment challenged by climate change". The document provides a comprehensive roadmap laying out steps and priorities for coordinated international and national action.
Delegates also underlined that the health sector, one of the most energy-intensive sectors in all countries, should lead moves to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the public sector by rationalizing energy use. They also agreed to strengthen early-warning surveillance and preparedness systems for extreme weather events and disease outbreaks.
The future of the European environment and health process
In September 2010, Member States will gather in Moscow for the sixtieth session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe, WHO's highest decision-making body at the regional level, to endorse the outcomes of this Conference through a resolution.
During 2010 and beyond, the European environment and health process will be revitalized through a series of new arrangements.
The governments gathered in Parma agreed to strengthen political coordination between regular ministerial conferences, and will now involve ministers directly in steering the Process - to ensure that cross-sectoral issues are given the highest possible political profile.
Ministers from the 53 European Member States will meet again at the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health in 2016.
Further information on the Conference is available on the web site: http://www.euro.who.int/parma2010 
AFSSET's contribution to the Conference:
In addition to the official participation of France by its ministries in charge of health and of sustainable development, French activities were presented in parallel sessions, symposiums and in posters by the two ministries and by AFSSET and by the French Public Health Institute (InVS), as the two leading national organisations work on environment and health.
Information available on the website of the French Ministry of Health and Sports
AFSSET presented three posters:
1. "www.substitution-cmr.fr: a tool to support the substitution of CMR substances" 
2. "Short asbestos fibres: potential for exposures and health risks to the general population"
Press release: Asbestos, Afsset recommends revising regulations to strengthen protection for workers and the general population
3. ERA-ENVHEALTH: Coordination of national environment and health research programmes
A FSSET organised a symposium entitled "Electromagnetic fields (radiofrequencies) and health: an update of expert assessment and recommendations for actions to reduce exposures and for research". Context:
The question of a possible impact of radiofrequencies on health is an emerging issue in many countries, yet uncertainty remains. AFSSET conducted a thorough update of its expert assessment on the issue, involving in the process scientists and other stakeholders. The report recommends to: (1) pursue research in order to reduce the remaining uncertainties and to pick up any new emerging signals; and (2) reduce the public's exposures especially exposures due to mobile telephones. The Symposium addressed these issues by bringing together scientists, risk assessors and risk managers from national, EU and international level.
The Symposium:
Chair: Martin GUESPEREAU (AFSSET Director-General)
OPENING: General introductory remarks, by Martin GUESPEREAU (AFSSET) "AFSSET update of expert appraisal relating to radiofrequencies", by Maylis TELLE-LAMBERTON, Member of AFSSET "Radiofrequencies Working Group" (Maisons-Alfort, France) "Comparison of national management and regulatory approaches for Electromagnetic Fields", by Emilie VAN DEVENTER, World Health Organization (Geneva, Switzerland)
Roundtable discussion with participation by:
"European Commission activities on EMF and Health - 2010", by Laurent BONTOUX, European Commission DG SANCO (Brussels, Belgium) "French experimentation with the reduction of exposures to radiofrequencies", by Patricia BLANC, French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable development and the Sea (MEEDDM) (Paris, France) "Epidemiological research needs and prospects on EMF and Health", by Elisabeth CARDIS, Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) (Barcelona, Spain)
