The report "Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review" was officially launched at the 14th World Congress for Public Health held on the 13th of February 2015, in Kolkata, India.
Upon release of the full-length volume, the book will be the new flagship publication under the joint work programme on biodiversity and health co-led by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) with the World Health Organization (WHO). It will be an important source of information to support the implementation of the emerging post-2015 development agenda and sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
Belgium is addressing biodiversity issues in different ways and at different levels of governance: in the development of the National Environment and Health Action Plan and in the National Biodiversity Strategy to 2020 . Biodiversity experts of our BIOPOLS team contribute to the work of the Belgian Community of Practices on Biodiversity and Health which delivers scientific expertise to decision makers and stakeholders.
The UN report demonstrates that the relationship between biodiversity and human health is extensive and complex. It outlines the ways that the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity has positive impacts on human health, including through impacts on water and air quality, nutrition, climate change and disaster risk reduction, pharmaceuticals, non-communicable and infectious diseases, and medicines.
The report concludes with recommendations for health and biodiversity strategies. It calls for the creation of coherent strategies that ensure that biodiversity and health links are widely recognised, valued, and reflected in national public health and biodiversity conservation policies.
