National Strategy and Action Plan

1 ANational Strategyand Action Planfor Environmental HealthUnited ArAb Majid Al Mansouri, Secretary General, Environment Agency Abu DhabiEng. Zaid Al Siksek, Chief Executive Officer, health Authority Abu DhabiDr. Mariam Al Matrooshi, Director, Department of health Legislation, Ministry of HealthDr. Mariam Al Shenasi, Consultant, Minister of Environment and Water, Ministry of Environment and Rashid Mohamed Al Shiraiqi, General Manager, Abu Dhabi Food Control Maher Hamad Al Awbad, Executive Director of Inspections, Ministry of LaborEng. Bahkeet Salim Al Ameri, Manager, Environment, health and Safety, Supreme Petroleum Khalid Ahmed El Shaikh Mubarak, Assistant Director, Finance and Administration, Dubai health AuthorityCommittee MembersTechnical AdvisorsDr.

2 M. Z. Ali Khan, World health Organization, retiredDr. Amir Johri, World health OrganizationSteering CommitteeDr. Jaber Al Jaberi, Director of Environmental Policy Sector, Environment Agency Abu DhabiDr. Jens Thomsen, Section Head, Occupational and Environmental health , Public health and Research Department, health Authority Abu DhabiDr. Mustafa Al Hashimi, Director, Preventive Medicine Department, Ministry of HealthEng. Saeed Hasan Al Bagham, Manager of Research and Extension, Ministry of Environment and WaterDr. Mariam Hareb Sultan Al Yousuf, Executive Director, Policy and Regulation Sector, Abu Dhabi Food Control AuthorityKasim Mohamed Jamil, Deputy Manager, Inspection, Ministry of LaborDr. Salaheddine Moussa, Occupational health Team Leader, Abu Dhabi National Oil CompanyDr.

3 Ali Al Marzouqi, Director of Public health , Dubai health AuthorityCommittee MembersManagersDr. Mahmoud Abdulrahim, Director, Environment Management Sector, Environment Agency Abu DhabiDr. Ahmed Bashir, Acting Director, Environment Awareness Sector, Environment Agency Abu DhabiTechnical CommitteeTechnical StaffAyesha Abushahab, Environment Agency Abu DhabiAbdullah Mohamed Al Rumaithi, Environment Agency Abu DhabiAyesha Al Suweidi, Environment Agency Abu DhabiRuqaya Mohamed, Environment Agency Abu DhabiNational Strategyand Action Planfor Environmental HealthUnited ArAb emirAtes2010 Table of ContentsForeword1 Introduction2 Outdoor Air14 Indoor Air24 Occupational Exposures34 Climate Change48 Drinking Water58 Coastal Water66 Soil and Groundwater74 Produce and Seafood82 Conclusions90 References96 Appendix A: Workshop Participants98 Appendix B: Science and Editorial Team102 Appendix C.

4 Key to Common Acronyms1041 ForewordThe Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) in co-operation with the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and other organizations, including the health Authority Abu Dhabi, the Ministry of health , the Dubai health Authority, the Ministry of Environ-ment and Water, and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, developed this National Strategy and Ac-tion plan for Environmental health in order to improve our environment for current residents and future National Strategy and Action plan is intended to provide a focal point for the efforts of many nation-al, emirate-level, and municipal agencies in the UAE toward the important objective of reducing the environmental burden of disease.

5 Cooperation among the entities named as stakeholders in this document will be key to achieving this objective. Initiatives to aid the achievement of both short-term (2014) and long-term (2030) goals must be acted upon without delay. Suggested time frames for the undertaking and completion of these initiatives are , we are making progress toward the targets presented in this document. Many of the listed initiatives are already under way. Our new Environment, health and Safety Manage-ment System in Abu Dhabi is designed to ensure implementation of environmental guidelines to effectively manage and protect the environment. The 2009 Abu Dhabi Water Resources Master plan examines the role we must play in promoting sustainable use of water and energy resources.

6 EAD has partnered with the new Center of Waste Management Abu Dhabi to imple-ment and enforce waste management these few examples focus on our efforts here in Abu Dhabi emirate, the need for National Action and cooperation is real. No single agency acting alone can have the impact necessary to effect the change we need. Now is the time for all of us to work together, with full cooperation and communication, to strive for a position of world leadership on issues related to environmental health . By following the recommendations outlined here, the UAE can set an example of excellence for other nations to Al MansouriSecretary General, Environment Agency Abu DhabiChairman of the Steering Committee, Environmental health Project12 IntroductionThe World health Organization (WHO) has estimated that 24% of the global burden of disease is attributable to environmental factors.

7 The United Arab Emirates is increasingly taking Action to reduce preventable deaths and illnesses due to exposure to environmental pollutants. This docu ment presents a National Strategy and initial Action plan to reduce the public health impacts of exposure to environmental pollution in the UAE. In 2007, the UAE completed a National umbrella Strategy that estab-lished broad goals for the country. The overarching goal of that National Strategy was to achieve sustainable and balanced development and ensure continued quality and high standards of living, but it did not ad-dress environmental issues in detail. Yet, the protection of public health in the UAE from risks associated with environmental pollution is an important component of ensuring sustainable and balanced development.

8 This strate-gy and Action plan is an important step along the path to realizing the goal of sustainable long-term development for all seven emirates within the does not respect borders between emirates. This Strategy is intended to unite the emirates in identifying and implementing steps to pro-tect people in the UAE from health risks of environmental pollution. Agen-cies in the public and private sectors across all seven emirates and at the federal level must cooperate to find effective solutions to the nation s envi-ronmental Strategy builds on many other related strategic planning efforts being carried out in government agencies throughout the emirates. It is not a replacement for these other plans, but rather it uniquely addresses envi-ronmental health while weaving in common threads from other strategies.

9 This document provides further support for the importance of implementing other, related a wide variety of strategies and Action plans have been com-pleted in the UAE within the past several years, and while many of these strategies address aspects of environmental pollution and/or human health , this is the first nationwide Strategy that emphasizes linkages between envi-ronmental quality and human health . Table 1 (page 4) lists selected other Strategy documents from the UAE that contain recommendations pertinent to the environment or health . This Strategy and Action plan draws relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) and initiatives from these other strate-gic plans. It enhances these previous plans not only by assembling in one place the actions and KPIs relevant to protecting public health from en-vironmental pollution, but also by providing new insights from the many stakeholders consulted in this process and from new scientific analyses of the environmental burden of disease in the UAE.

10 A companion report on the environment and public health in the UAE describes the assessment of the environmental burden of disease in more Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) funded this strategic plan -ning effort to benefit the entire nation. EAD works with the UAE Ministry of Environment and Water to implement environmental laws and issue regula-3tions in Abu Dhabi emirate. EAD has also pioneered the promotion and development of information technology (including data-bases such as the Environmental Database and the Abu Dhabi Global Environmen-tal Data Initiative) to unite data collection across the requested the assistance of the WHO Centre for Environmental health Activities in Amman, Jordan, to develop a framework for the strategic planning proj-ect.