The World Health Organization (WHO), realizing the increasing degradation of the environment and the resulting decline in public health and morbidity, initiated the European Environment and Health Process (EHP) in 1989. Countries of the WHO European Region (from Portugal to Russia) work together in reducing the environmental burden of disease. Ministers of health and environment of the Region meet every 5-7 years to take stock of the progress and establish future targets. The last Ministerial Conference, within the framework of the Ostrava Declaration[1] (2017) called member states to collate environment and health goals in a national portfolio of action. Annex 1 to the Ostrava Declaration is Compendium of possible actions to advance implementation[2]. The priority areas of the Compendium are:
- Improving indoor and outdoor air quality for all
- Ensuring universal, equitable and sustainable access to safe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene for all and in all settings
- Minimizing the adverse effects of chemicals on human health and the environment
- Preventing and eliminating the adverse environmental and health effects, costs and inequalities related to waste management and contaminated sites
- Strengthening adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change-related health risks and supporting measures to mitigate climate change and achieve health cobenefits in line with the Paris Agreement
- Supporting the efforts of European cities and regions to become healthier, more inclusive, safer, resilient and sustainable
- Building the environmental sustainability of health systems and reducing their environmental impact
The implementation of the Ostrava Declaration rests on multiple pillars in Hungary and involves nearly every field of the Compendium. Implementation is primarily achieved in the framework of comprehensive national strategies, national operative programmes, regional programmes, and comprehensive national surveys. Hungary adopted its National Portfolio in 2021.
The goals of Hungary related to the Ostrava Declaration were adopted integrated in the corresponding national programmes, primarily the 4th and 5th National Environmental Programmes. This approach prevents duplication of effort and benefits from the accountability and reporting mechanism of the already established strategies. The 4th National Environmental Programme (NKP4) for the 2015-2020 period published in Resolution 27/2015. (VI. 17.) of the Hungarian Parliament (see attachment in Hungarian) addresses all priority areas in the Compendium. The Programme will be followed by the 5th National Environmental Programme (NKP5) 2021- 2026, which will further elaborate the environment and health targets, including those under the Ostrava Declaration. The National Air Pollution Control Program (OLP) that was adopted by Government Decree 1231/2020. (V. 15.) is fully aligned with the National Environmental Programmes. The National Climate Change Strategy (NCCS-2) was adopted by the Parliament in Resolution 23/2018 (X. 31.). In the resolution the Parliament endorsed the Government to develop its first Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP-1) within six months. The Action Plan was developed in accordance with the Parliament’s request. The basis for the short-term implementation of the NCCS-2 are the Climate Change Action Plans updated every three years. The above four national programmes cover the thematic areas a- f.
National operative programmes provide financing for specific goals. In the framework of the national operative programmes for the 2014-2020 period, a project was launched in 2017 to increase the preventive functions of the healthcare system and to implement developments aimed at safer patient care under the title „Technical-methodological improvement of the healthcare system” (EFOP-1.8.0-VEKOP-17-00001). One of the pillars of this programme addressed two relevant environment and health goals to mitigate the adverse health effects of air and water quality. This project also contributes to meeting the goals of thematic areas a. and b.
Data collection is the basis of action. Two relevant national surveys are included in the National Portfolio: the National Children’s Respiratory Survey and the National survey of environmental health conditions in healthcare systems, contributing to priority areas a. and g., respectively
[1] https://apps.who.int/iris/rest/bitstreams/1385444/retrieve