WHO and UN partners create environmental risk factors compendium

The World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (ENDP) and UNICEF have partnered to create a new compendium of 500 actions, aimed at reducing death and diseases driven by environmental risk factors, the first such resource to unite this expertise from across the UN system.

Environmental pollution and other environmental risks cause 24% of deaths through heart disease, stroke, poisonings, and traffic accidents, amongst others. It is believed this toll could be substantially reduced, or eliminated, through bold preventive action at national, regional, local and sector-specific levels.

The compendium provides access to practical actions which practitioners may use to help scale-up efforts in creating healthy environments which may prevent disease. It is designed for use by policymakers, staff in government ministries, local government, in-country UN personnel and other decision makers, and presents actions and recommendations to address a comprehensive range of environmental risk factors to health, including, but not limited to, air pollution, unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene, climate and ecosystem change, chemicals, radiation and occupational risks.

Source: WHO, 3 September 2021