Preliminary Dose Estimation from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
May 2012 – This report provides information on the estimated radiation exposure of populations in Japan and around the world in the first year following the Fukushima accident. The report is based mainly on data collected and made publicly available by the Government of Japan up to mid-September 2011, as well as on computer simulations to assess doses outside Japan. The estimates were produced by an independent International Expert Panel convened by the World Health Organization (WHO). This report therefore consists of the collective views of independent experts. The Dose Assessment Report will inform the WHO Health Risk Assessment Expert Group that is currently working on an initial assessment of the health risks incurred by different populations. It is expected that this report will be published in summer 2012.
World Day for Safety and Health at Work, 28 April 2012
On this year's World Day for Health and Safety at Work, 28 April, WHO is calling for concerted global action to promote occupational safety and health in a "green economy" - one of the themes of the upcoming RIO+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, 20-22 June. Ensuring workers' health is an essential prerequisite for sustainable development. Presently, more than 2 million people die each year as a result of work-related illness or injuries and some 180 million people fall ill because of their work. Only 15% of workers have access to occupational health services, and millions of workers worldwide are impoverished every year due to catastrophic health expenditures from illness or injuries related to their jobs.
UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) - 2012 Report
12 April 2012 -- This 2012 UN-Water GLAAS provides further reason for vigilance—resources are neither targeted nor apparently sufficient to sustain routine operation and maintenance of water and sanitation services. Thus, there is a serious risk of slipping backwards on gains already made. The analysis emerging from UN-Water GLAAS also helps to identify the reasons behind the disparities in access to sanitation and drinking-water among different regions, communities and income groups.
Health through a better environment
Environmental hazards are responsible for as much as a quarter of the total burden of disease world-wide, and more than one-third of the burden among children. Heading that list are diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, various forms of unintentional injuries and malaria. The disease burden is much higher in the developing world, although in the case of certain non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and cancers, the per capita disease burden is larger in developed countries. Health impacts of environmental hazards run across more than 80 diseases and types of injury.
Well-targeted interventions can prevent much of this environmental risk.
Worldwide, as many as 13 million deaths could be prevented every year by making our environments healthier.
In focus
- Preliminary Dose Estimation from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami
- World Day for Safety and Health at Work, 28 April 2012
- UN-Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) - 2012 Report
- Health through a better environment
More about health in the green economy
What's new in WHO regions
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3 February 2012
Extremely cold weather challenges health and social services
Extremely cold weather increases mortality and poses a high health risk to many, particularly children and elderly, homeless or intoxicated people. The health sector needs to prepare for cold spells and winter health problems, to prevent and mitigate the adverse health effects of cold temperatures.
