Inches

UPDATE no 24 July 2002 INCHES

2002 - The International Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety

Dear member of INCHES,

In this update :
News items
Conferences
INCHES funding

News items

EU project
INCHES has been initiating a Thematic Network on Policy Interpretation. It looks like the EU is going to fund this proposal for the coming three years. The final negotiations are done this week. So soon news to follow.

INCHES website
The website has been updated recently. We are trying to get the updates uploaded to the website regularly. If anyone has suggestions for additional items let us know.

RIO +10 summit
WHO is organising a parallel session at the summit in Johannesburg. A joint group of INCHES, ISDE and PSR are collaborating to prepare together with EPA an event on children’s environmental health. Those of the INCHES participants should send us a message so we can update you on the when and where of this meeting.

Congress in Poland
3rd European Conference on Tobacco or Health ”closing the gaps - solidarity for health”
The third European Conference on Tobacco or Health "Closing the Gaps - Solidarity for Health", 20-22 June 2002 was in Warsaw, Poland. Governmental and non-governmental organizations, the public and private sectors and all parts of Europe were invited to promote solidarity for health.
The Conference was organised by: Maria Sklodowska-Curie Memorial Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, WHO Collaborating Centre, Health Promotion Foundation.

Warsaw declaration for a tobacco-free Europe
On 18 - 19 February 2002 Warsaw hosted 15 Ministers and 9 Deputy Ministers during the European Ministerial Conference for a Tobacco - free Europe. The Conference was organised by WHO from Copenhagen and Polish Government. The participants of the Conference came from 48 European and neighbouring countries. The honourable members of the Conference were: WHO Director General Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland and WHO Director Regional Dr Marc Danzon. After two days of debating the politicians and the representatives from all the participating countries accepted the Warsaw Declaration.
The content of the Declaration: www.ectoh2002.org

Sessions dedicated children’s health:
Youth smoking
1. S. E. Woods, L. Dugdill, L. Porcellato, J. Springett, M. Mair, B. Milton: The Liverpool longitudinal study on smoking: tracking young people’s perspectives on smoking in Liverpool
2. Ch. Ch. Hsu, Ch. Ch. Shu: Environmental influences on adolescents risk of smoking behaviour
3. Ch.W. Warren, S. Asma, L. Riley: Global tobacco surveillance
4. C.Cortijo, F.J. Ayesta: Spanish teenagers: characteristics associated with smoking
5. D. Tamir, A. Peleg, R. Weinstein, Y. Harel: Youth smoking habits in Israel: a case for action
6. K. Ostaszewski: Cigarette smoking among Warsaw teenagers: trends 1984 –2000
7. P. Dufflot, D. Lepetit, B. Dautzenberg, P. Birkui, C. J. Arcival, J. Rubal, P. Paillottet – tbc: A survey of smoking status of secondary school in Paris area
8. V. Levshin, T. Fedichkina: Smoking behaviour among Moscow 12-16 old years adolescents
9. A. Dzeletovic, N. Nikolic, B. Kilibarda: Behavior change evaluation of youth related to tobacco use

Preventive and smoking cessation programs for children and youth
1. M. Ausems, I. Mesters, G. van Breukelen, H. de Vries: Differences between never, experimental and regular smoking youngsters, aged 11-12 years old, concerning their demographic backgrounds and perceptions of smoking: implications for prevention
2. S. Skattebo: “Be smokefree” – Norwegian school program
3. A. Fielder, E. Nahit, A. Charlton, A. Povey: Availability of cigarettes to 14 year olds – are we neglecting one of the main sources, our schools?
4. D. J. J. Frissen, M.C. Willemsen, G. Zeeman: Effective smoking prevention through mass media: the provocative campaign “…but I don’t smoke” showed it can be done!
5. J. Szymborski, A. Sito, M. Korzycka-Stalmach, E. Lukasik : Coalition building for effective comprehensive anti-tobacco education of children and youth.
6. N. Alexeeva, O. Alexeev: The effectiveness of smoking prevention programs at school (Pilot project on smoking prevention in Novosibirsk, Russia).
7. J. Hoffman, S. Nemes: The adolescent smoking cessation escaping nicotine & tobacco (ASCENT) program
8. K. Bowden, S. Crone, K. Sehmi: Young people’s smoking cessation support groups

Smoking prevention and cessation among pregnant women
1. A. Abrahamsson, G. Ejlertsson: The relevance of using a salutogenic perspective to prevent smoking during pregnancy
2. W. Hannöver, J. Kelbsch, K. Röske, K. Bott, J. René Thyrian, Ch. Meyer, U. Hapke, U. John: Smoking cessation and relapse prevention in women postpartum: a project within the research collaboration in early substance use intervention (EARLINT)
3. K. Polanska, W. Hanke: Smoking cessation intervention during pregnancy in Lodz region, Poland
4. G. F. Cope, P. Nayyar, R. Holder: The use of a rapid urine test for nicotine metabolites to reduce smoking during pregnancy and the effect on pregnancy outcome
5. D. Hrubá, I. Crha, J. Fiala, P. Ventruba, M. Petrenko, L. Kukla - tbc: The effect of ascorbic acid on the treatment of infertile smoking and non-smoking women by IVF/ET

A collaborative effort to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand smoke
1. O.S. von Ehrenstein, S. Mcnabb: Welcome and Session Overview
2. I. Pudule, J. Pirktina, I. Bluka, A. Rurane, I. Behmane, L. Grobina: Latvian initiative in the communities of Saldus and Jarmala an intervention project on prevention of children’s exposure to environmental tobacco smoke
3. A. Kielpinski: Set our children free from tobacco smoke – Polish initiative in the Communities of Bydgoszcz, Ciechanow and Katowice
4. L. Kukla, D. Hruba, M. Tyrlik – tbc: Health of newborns and infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy
5. M. Nebot, M. Lopez: “Environmental tobacco smoke in a sample of European Cities”: project and pilot study
6. R. Dervisheva, M. Bancheva, I. Djankova, M. Ljubenova, N. Logofetova, D. Markova, T. Troeva: Health effects of ETS in high risk families with young children

More information and the abstract can be seen on website www.ectoh2002.org

INCHES conference in 2003
As mentioned before Paul Saoke is organising the next International Conference in 2003. He announced the first call for abstracts will be mailed soon. The date for the conference has been fixed for 18-21 November 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya. Please mark your agendas. Co-participation of the organisation of the conference by WHO and UNEP is expected. If you know of any international development agency that is willing to provide some seed money to start with organising this meeting, your suggestions would be most welcome. Please contact Paul Saoke at: psaoke3@yahoo.co.uk

Lead
CDC Releases Guidelines for Case Management of Lead Poisoned Children
CDC recently released the first updated guidance on case management of children with elevated blood lead levels in over a decade. The new report, Managing Elevated Blood Lead Levels Among Young Children: Recommendations
from the Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, was written primarily for those who provide or oversee case management for children with elevated blood lead levels and fills a large void faced by programs seeking practical guidance about effective interventions. Where possible, the recommendations are based on the results of evidence-based studies. The report contains an introduction that provides an overview of case management and offers specific guidance in environmental, medical, nutritional, and developmental interventions, as well as parental education.
For additional information, visit CDC's web site at www.cdc.gov/nech/lead.

Article
Higher birth defect rates found in Red River Valley farm families
by Tom Meersman, Star Tribune, June 4, 2002

Families of farmers who use pesticides in five northwestern Minnesota counties have considerably higher rates of birth defects than urban families, according to a new study by a University of Minnesota researcher.
The study of 695 Red River Valley farm families from 1968 to 1998 found birth defects in 31 babies per 1,000 live births. That compares to 18 babies with defects per 1,000 births in the metropolitan areas, according to earlier research. The farm families live in Clay, Kittson, Marshall, Norman and Polk counties. Of 1,532 children born to those families, 70 had birth defects, including 48 whose disorders were apparent in the first year, the study found.
Researchers led by Vincent Garry, professor of environmental medicine and pathology, also found that babies conceived in the spring were more than twice as likely to have birth defects as those conceived during other seasons.The birth defects included disorders that affected nervous, respiratory, gastrointestinal and reproductive systems. Garry said the study does not show a definitive link between exposure to farm chemicals and birth defects. "This is associative data," he said. In terms of showing cause and effect, "we don't have enough evidence of that," he said. Blood, urine and other samples from farm families will be needed to study possible causes, he said. A limited amount of that work has begun.
The study, published in a June supplement to the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, builds upon work Garry published in the 1990s.
In 1996, Garry found higher rates of birth defects in rural areas when comparing Minnesota birth records for 1989 to 1991. For the latest research, he focused on the five northwestern counties and collected data from medical records, phone interviews and written questionnaires. Farmers in the counties use a variety of herbicides and fungicides to grow wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. The participants were volunteers, Garry said, chosen at random from among the approximately 3,000 individuals in the counties who are licensed to use pesticides. The names of all families remain confidential, he said. Alan Bender, an environmental epidemiologist at the Minnesota Health Department, said that he has not seen Garry's research but that he is cautious about drawing conclusions quickly. "Birth defects are not all the same," he said. "Some we know the causes for, and some we know very little about."
No data registry
Bender said it's difficult to evaluate rates in the study because Minnesota is "flying blind" with no data collection system for birth defects as it has for cancer. "These are the kinds of issues that make it a shame that the Health Department has not been able to get a birth defects registry established for Minnesota," he said.
Health officials have repeatedly asked the Legislature to fund such a program, Bender said, but they have been turned down for various reasons, including privacy matters and funding. About a dozen states, including Iowa, have such programs.
Theo Colborn, a senior program scientist with the World Wildlife Fund, said that Garry's work is cutting edge. Because pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals are designed to affect the nervous system, she said, it shouldn't be surprising to see developmental problems in wildlife and perhaps even in children.
"Certainly the work should be considered a signal for all of us to become alert," Colborn said. "You can't move to the country to avoid these kinds of exposures."
Other findings Garry said the research also found that fungicide applicators have a higher percentage of baby girls. His research offered no explanation, but other studies suggest that male fetuses are more susceptible to toxins.
In a separate paper scheduled for publication later this month, he has analyzed rates of first trimester miscarriages among spouses of those who apply fungicides in the Red River Valley.
Jim Stordahl, University of Minnesota extension educator in Moorhead, said that many farmers have become more cautious about farm chemicals, using protective clothing, gloves and even respiratory equipment when handling them. Stordahl, who teaches pesticide safety, said many farmers have lingering doubts -- whether they'll admit it or not -- about whether pesticides cause health problems.
"Most farmers also feel like they have no options, and that pesticides are their only choice," Stordahl said. "Most would say they don't know another way to farm and remain in business."

Conferences

Upcoming Conferences 1
Healthy Children Conference will take place on October 10-11, 2002 in Chernivtsy (Ukraine) at the Bucovinian Medical Academy Conference Center. The Conference Program Committee invites you to submit abstracts. Conference will provide several opportunities for presentations by participants: oral presentations (10-30 minute presentations with discussion) and attended poster sessions.
Working languages: Ukrainian, Russian, English and French.
Topics of paper: Children health, growth and development, 2) Problems of standard and normative in pediatrics, 3) Problems of healthy newborns 4) Developmental nutrition guidelines, 5) Environmental impact on healthy children,
Abstracts must be written in English or French and submitted by e-mail in attachment not later than 01 September 2002 ; Contact person: Sophy Fokina pediatr2@msa.cv.ua
Conference secretariat: Department of Developmental Pediatrics Bukovinian State Medical Academy; Post Box # 601 58010, vul. Grushevskogo, 1, Chernivtsi-10, Ukraine
E-mail - chernivtsi2002@yandex.ru, pediatr2@msa.cv.ua
www.chernivtsi2002.narod.ru

Upcoming Conferences 2
ASSOCIATION OF PHYSICIANS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT OF TURKEY organizes
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT
OCTOBER 18th – 20th, 2002, ISTANBUL, TURKEY
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS: International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE); Turkish Medical Association; Turkish Pediatrics Society; Cerrahpasa Medical School Public Health Department

MAIN TOPICS:

Persistent Organic Pollutants (POP’s) and children’s health
Heavy metals and children’s health
Electromagnetic fields and risk on children
Effects of indoor air pollution
Application of precautionary principle to the children’s health
Respiratory diseases due to environmental pollutants in children
Children age cancers and environmental exposure
Environmental education of parents and children

Relevant presentations will be peer reviewed. Only poster presentations will be available. There will be poster discussions on the third day. Deadline is August 1st, 2002. Presentations could be sent by regular mail or e-mail. It will be written by MS Word and saved in doc. and rtf. formats. Languages of the symposium will be English and Turkish.. WEB SITE: www.cevrehekim.org.tr ; CONTACT: Dr. Günay Can: 90-212- 586 15 49 alpincan@yahoo.fr ; Dr. Ümit Sahin: 90-212- 244 56 68 umitsa@turk.net
CORRESPONDING ADDRESS: Çevre Için Hekimler Dernegi – Türkocagi caddesi No:17 Kat:1 34440 Cagaloglu, Istanbul – Turkey

INCHES funding

Did you locate a possible sponsor? Do you a private sponsor? Can we mail some information on INCHES to one of your friends? Any donations (or suggestions of possible donors) are welcome at bank account nr.: 526292490 ABN AMRO (swiftcode ABNANL 2A), Dieren, Netherlands.

Last updated 19 August 2002

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