International level

International policies at the pan-European level stem from the WHO European environment and health process and from the European Commission Strategy on Environment and Health. In this context, ENHIS has produced an inventory of policies on selected environmental health issues, a series of topic-based assessments of the national environmental health policy situation in 18 European countries, and an assessmtent of information needs in international policy making in the context of accountable policy making.

WHO/Europe initiated the environment and health process in 1989, with the aim of eliminating the most significant environmental threats to health, based on the premise that prevention is better than cure. Progress towards this goal is marked by ministerial conferences which are held every five years (1989: Frankfurt; 1994: Helsinki; 1999: London; 2004: Budapest; 2009: Italy).

At the 1994 Helsinki conference, ministers committed their governments to developing National Environment and Health Action Plans (NEHAP). The focus of the 2004 Budapest conference was on children and led to the adoption of the Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE), which aims to offer to future generations higher protection from environmental hazards. CEHAPE specifies four regional priority goals (RPGs) for Europe: safe water and adequate sanitation; injury protection and adequate physical activity; clean outdoor and indoor air; and the reduction of chemicals in the environment.

• Overview of CEHAPE and RPGs
• WHO/Europe Environment and Health website

The European Commission (EC) introduced the European Environment and Health Strategy in 2003, identifying the need to scale up efforts to protect human health, particularly for the most vulnerable groups in society. This approach, known as ‘SCALE’ (Science, Children, Awareness, Legislation and Evaluation) focuses on child diseases that are linked to environmental factors.

The European Environment and Health Action Plan 2004-2010 was presented in 2004. It was designed to provide the EU with the scientific information needed to reduce the adverse health impacts of specific environmental factors and to enhance cooperation between actors in the environment, health and research fields. The three main themes of the Action Plan are: (a) improving the information chain, (b) filling the knowledge gap and (c) reviewing policies and improving communication.

• European Commission Environment and Health website
• European Commission Environment and Health Action Plan
• EU Health Portal

• ENHIS inventory of national policies on selected environment and health issues in 18 European countries (.xls)
• ENHIS topic-based assessments
• ENHIS analysis of information needs in environmental health policy making - full report (.pdf)

The main findings of this assessment are:

1. children’s environmental health should be a priority when developing environmental health policies, using the CEHAPE framework as starting point;
2. policies should include health-focused targets and accountable measures for implementation and evaluation;
3. methods and tools for reporting on policy compliance need to be developed and specified to match the objectives stated in binding regulations;
4. methods and tools for reporting on policy compliance need to be developed and specified to match the objectives stated in binding regulations;