GENEVA -- Scientists tell us that the evidence the Earth is warming is "unequivocal." Increases in global average air and sea temperature, ice melting and rising global sea levels all help us understand and prepare for the coming challenges. In addition to these observed changes, climate-sensitive impacts on human health are occurring today. They are attacking the pillars of public health. And they are providing a glimpse of the challenges public health will have to confront on a large scale, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan warned today on the occasion of World Health Day.

"The core concern is succinctly stated: climate change endangers human health," said Dr Chan. "The warming of the planet will be gradual, but the effects of extreme weather events -- more storms, floods, droughts and heat waves -- will be abrupt and acutely felt. Both trends can affect some of the most fundamental determinants of health: air, water, food, shelter and freedom from disease."

Human beings are already exposed to the effects of climate-sensitive diseases and these diseases today kill millions. They include malnutrition, which causes over 3.5 million deaths per year, diarrhoeal diseases, which kill over 1.8 million, and malaria, which kills almost 1 million.

Examples already provide us with images of the future:

• European heat wave, 2003: Estimates suggest that approximately 70 000 more people died in that summer than would have been expected.
• Rift Valley fever in Africa: Major outbreaks are usually associated with rains, which are expected to become more frequent as the climate changes.
• Hurricane Katrina, 2005: More than 1 800 people died and thousands more were displaced. Additionally, health facilities throughout the region were destroyed critically affecting health infrastructure.
• Malaria in the East African highlands: In the last 30 years, warmer temperatures have also created more favourable conditions for mosquito populations in the region and therefore for transmission of malaria.
• Epidemics of cholera in Bangladesh: They are closely linked to flooding and unsafe water.

These trends and events cannot be attributed solely to climate change but they are the types of challenges we expect to become more frequent and intense with climate changes. They will further strain health resources that, in many regions, are already under severe stress.

"Although climate change is a global phenomenon, its consequences will not be evenly distributed," said Dr Chan. "In short, climate change can affect problems that are already huge, largely concentrated in the developing world, and difficult to control."

To address the health effects of climate change, WHO is coordinating and supporting research and assessment on the most effective measures to protect health from climate change, particularly for vulnerable populations such as women and children in developing countries, and is advising Member States on the necessary adaptive changes to their health systems to protect their populations.

WHO and its partners -- including the UN Environment Programme, the Food and Agriculture Organization, and the UN World Meteorological Organization -- are devising a workplan and research agenda to get better estimates of the scale and nature of health vulnerability and to identify strategies and tools for health protection. WHO recognizes the urgent need to support countries in devising ways to cope. Better systems for surveillance and forecasting, and stronger basic health services, can offer health protection. WHO will be working closely with its Member States in coming years to develop effective means of adapting to a changing climate and reducing its effects on human health.

"Through its own actions and its support to Member States," said Dr Chan, "WHO is committed to do everything it can to ensure all is done to protect human health from climate change."

Highlighting the role of potato in the fight against hunger and poverty

A world photography contest to highlight the role of the potato as a source of food, employment and income in developing countries was launched today by FAO and the United Nations. The contest is being held in conjunction with the UN’s International Year of the Potato (IYP) in 2008.

IYP aims at raising global awareness of the potato’s key contribution to agriculture, the economy and world food security, and at fostering improved potato-based systems to help countries achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The IYP World Photography Contest, “Focus on a global food”, invites photographers to capture the spirit of the International Year in images that illustrate potato biodiversity, cultivation, processing, trade, marketing, consumption and utilization.

“Potato is the world’s number four food crop, after rice, wheat and maize, with annual production of more than 300 million tonnes,” said FAO’s NeBambi Lutaladio, the IYP coordinator. “It is grown in more than 100 countries, from the Andes and China's Yunnan plateau to the subtropical lowlands of India, on the plains of northern Europe and the steppes of the Ukraine. Photographers who explore the world of the potato will find plenty of subject matter.”

Sponsored by Nikon, the IYP photography contest is an opportunity for photographers to showcase previous work or to capture new images that depict the many activities related to this vital crop.

The contest has separate categories for professional and amateur photographers, and will accept single digital images or “photo stories” of four to eight related images, in either black-and-white or colour. Participants can submit their digital files by uploading them directly via internet or sending them by normal post on a CD-ROM.

The winning photographs will be chosen by a selection panel that includes some of the world’s leading professionals in the field of photography. Winners in the professional and amateur categories will be awarded cash prizes totalling some US$11 000 as well as Nikon cameras. The deadline for entries is 1 September 2008.

With an estimated 200 million migrants around the world, governments must strengthen the positive impact of migration on the development of home countries by ensuring people move in a way that is safe and legal, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said.

"We cannot stop this force of human nature, but we can do a great deal to build a better migration experience," Ban said on 10 July in Brussels during the opening of the first Global Forum for Migration and Development (GFMD).

"We can work to strengthen the positive impact of migration on the development of migrants' home countries. We can encourage destination countries to promote the success of migrants, both in their original and their adopted homes," Ban said.

About 800 delegates, including 155 government representatives and observers from international and regional organisations, attended the forum, which was launched by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to create greater international cooperation in addressing migration. Its purpose is to examine how migration can contribute to development and how migration policies should be integrated as a positive factor into development policies, including achievement of the UN's millennium development goals.

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said: "Today, Europe and the US are spending more money on the control of migration than on development of the countries of origin. But let us be honest, this strategy just isn't working. Worse still, it's selfish and even inhuman."

"There's a great deal we can do," he said. "First and foremost, [we can start] by earmarking the agreed 0.7 percent of our GNP [gross national product] to development cooperation. We've been talking about doing this for quite some time already. Now it's time to deliver on our promises."

Verhofstadt also called for the creation of mechanisms that empower people and countries, "like micro credits, for example".

Concepts discussed at the forum included diaspora bonds; making remittance flows more secure; automatic clearing-house systems to reduce the cost of remittances and facilitate flow; partnership projects to address the brain drain by setting up training facilities for doctors and nurses; and systems to provide pre-departure training and information to migrants about the benefits as well as risks of migration.

"I learned a lot from this meeting," Ann Phoya, from Malawi's Ministry of Health, told IRIN. "The circular migration seems to be a real opportunity: the migrants come back home to give their skills on a periodic basis without losing their status."

José Nvo Masa, from the Ministry of Interior of Equatorial Guinea, said: "We should think south-south before south-north in this matter. In our countries of the CEMAC [Economic Community for Central Africa] for instance, we face a huge wave of illegal and irregular immigrants attracted by oil prospecting. We first need to control this immigration among us."

In his closing remarks, Peter Sutherland, the UN special representative for migration and development, emphasised the unique character of the event: "The forum is a place where policymakers can learn the state-of-the-art in migration and development, and build relationships of trust among each other that lead to practical partnerships,” he said.

The second meeting of the forum is scheduled to take place in Manila in 2008, hosted by the government of the Philippines.