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Damage to ecosystems poses growing threat to human
health

30 MARCH 2005 | GENEVA/BRASILIA -- A new report shows that
some 60% of the benefits that the global ecosystem provides to
support life on Earth (such as fresh water, clean air and a
relatively stable climate) are being degraded or used unsustainably.
In the report, scientists working on the Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA) warn that harmful consequences of this degradation
to human health are already being felt and could grow significantly
worse over the next 50 years.

The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) synthesis report warns
that the erosion of ecosystems could lead to an increase in existing
diseases such as malaria and cholera, as well as a rising risk of
new diseases emerging. Worsening ecosystems will also affect the
world's ability to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).

"Ecosystems are the planet's life-support system. They are
fundamental to human health and indispensable to the well-being of
all people everywhere in the world," said Dr Kerstin Leitner, World
Health Organization (WHO) Assistant Director-General for Sustainable
Development and Healthy Environments, and Member of the MA Board.
"The work of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment makes clear how
ecosystems and human health are inter-twined - and further
highlights how important it is that decisions related to economic
development also protect the environment, in order to ultimately
safeguard human health." The links between environmental change and
human health are complex because they are often indirect, displaced
in space and time, and dependent on a number of modifying forces.
There are two ways of avoiding disease and injury caused by
ecosystem disruption. One is to prevent, limit or manage
environmental damage; the other way is to find ways to protect
individuals and populations from the consequences of ecosystem
change.

“One of the striking and over-arching conclusions of this
assessment lies in the fundamental need to ensure ecological
sustainability to safeguard ecosystems and therefore protect human
health in the long-term," said Dr Carlos Corvalan, a WHO scientist
who contributed to the MA report. "Where ill-health is caused by
excessive consumption of what the ecosystem provides such as water,
food and energy, substantial reduction in consumption -- and right
of access to essential resources to marginalized communities --
would have major health benefits."

The MA Synthesis Report is the first in a series of
seven synthesis and summary reports and four technical volumes that
assess the state of global ecosystems and their impact on human
well-being. The study started in 2001 in response to a call by UN
Secretary General Kofi Annan for global support of the MDGs. Some
1300 experts from 95 countries volunteered to conduct the study,
while 900 served as reviewers and editors.

RELATED LINKS
- Global environmental
change and health
- Environmental
health

For more information
contact:

Nada Osseiran
WHO/Geneva
Telephone: +41 22
791 4475
E-mail: [email-masked]

Dr Carlos Corvalan - Coordinator and Scientific
Expert
WHO/Geneva
Telephone: +41 79 445 1624
E-mail: [email-masked]

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