Cleaning up pollution-related disease in the EU

Scientists with ideas of how to combat pollution-related diseases in the European Community are invited to submit their proposals for action to the European Commission. Following a decision by the Council and the European Parliament in 1999 to adopt a three-year programme of ...

Scientists with ideas of how to combat pollution-related diseases in the European Community are invited to submit their proposals for action to the European Commission.

Following a decision by the Council and the European Parliament in 1999 to adopt a three-year programme of Community Action on pollution-related diseases, the Commission has an annual budget of 1.3 million euro to spend on work in this area.

The actions to be implemented under the programme cover actions to improve information on pollution-related diseases and to improve knowledge and understanding of the assessment and management of pollution-related diseases.

Each proposal must aim to meet all or some of the following objectives:

- collect from various bodies data relating to the epidemiology of pollution-related diseases;

- examine the quality of existing data and identify the areas where data are lacking, in order to improve the existing base and promote the further continuation of Community research;

- contribute towards improving the comparability of epidemiological data within the Community;

- make the information collected available and accessible to the public and to the individuals or bodies whose role is to enlighten the public on the health risks posed by pollution and on the assessment and management of pollution-related diseases;

- identify the diseases in which specific pollutants are considered to play a role, even though the link between the pollutant and the disease may not have yet been clearly demonstrated;

- support the exchange of information aimed at achieving a better understanding of pollution-related health risks.

Projects must also take account of the priorities established in the work programme for the year 2000, especially those which will provide an assessment of the public health impact of toxins-related pollution, noise-related pollution and waste-related pollution. They must also take account of priorities which will develop the concept of environment-linked health indicators.
For further information, please contact:

European Commission
Programme; Pollution related disease
DG SANCO/F/2
Bâtiment Euroform
L-2920 Luxembourg
Fax [phone]