Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development: In conversation about health

May 11, 2012

I've been covering conversations about the upcoming United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development with a particular interest in efforts to add health to the instiutional framework.  On Wednesday, May 9th, the Institute of Medicine and the Pan American Health Organization held a webinar with the following meeting goals:

• Gain a better understanding of the impact of health on economic growth.
• Discuss appropriate health-related indicators and goals for sustainable development.
• Identify how to incorporate health into decisions at #RioPlus20

You'll find my tweet notes and a full review of the meeting in my storify posted below.

On Thursday, May 10th, The World Bank hosted also hosted a webinar "Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing - Report of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP) in Light of Rio+20" to consider the relevance of the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP) Key questions:

  • How can IFIs step up their efforts to promote sustainable development in a comprehensive way, and how should they monitor and report on the impact of their sustainable development policies? (see GSP recommendations 33 and 46)
  • How can enabling frameworks be created to incentivize substantial financing and sustainable choices from the private sector, including through the creation of partnerships, risk mitigation, etc? (see recommendations 34 to 38)
  • How can progress and growth be measured more comprehensively beyond GDP? (see recommendation 39)

Another Thursday webinar "The Role of Health in Sustainable Development: Focus on Rio+20"  was conducted by the World Health Organization, International Federations' of Medical Students and Health offering more insight on the context and aims of the upcoming conference. The hope is to create a platform that includes more on the relationship between health and environment. The modederate Alex Kirby is the Former Chief Environmental Correspondent at the BBC with presentations from Dr Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health & Environment at WHO and Dr Carlos Dora, Coordinator for Interventions for Healthy Environments at WHO, Professor Jonathan Patz , Director of Global Environmental Health at University of Wisconsin, Madison and Michael Kalmus Eliasz, Coordinator of the Think Global Initiative at IFMSA.

I'm thinking about stories as the conference occurs next month.

[<a href="http://storify.com/katellington/global-sustainable-development-and-envi…" target="_blank">View the story "In review: Global Sustainable Development and Environmental Health" on Storify</a>]<h1>In review: Global Sustainable Development and Environmental Health</h1><h2>My tweet notes from the 09-May-2012 webinar hosted by the IOM and PAHO/WHOModerated by Luiz Augusto Galvão, M.D., M.P.H. Area Manager, Sustainable Development and Environmental Health, Pan American Health Organization</h2><p>Storified by Katherine Ellington · Thu, May 10 2012 13:37:52</p><div>Meeting goals<br><br> <p>• Gain a better understanding of the impact of health on economic growth.<br>• Discuss appropriate health-related indicators and goals for sustainable development.<br>• Identify how to incorporate health into decisions at #RioPlus20</p> <br></div><div>Tune in to @theIOM and @pahowho Sustainable Development and Health webinar today. Live event 11am ET http://ow.ly/aNhVI #RioPlus20InstituteofMedicine</div><div>Today @ 11AM ET Join @theIOM and @pahowho for #Rioplus20 Global #Sustainable Development and Health http://www.paho.org/virtual/SDESeminars @ToolkitDS #Rio+20PAHO/WHO</div><div> <p>Overview of How Health Contributes to Advances in Sustainable Developmentand Economic Growth</p> <p>Maria Neira, M.D. Director, Public Health and Environment, World Health Organization</p> </div><div>#Health is an important input to sustainable development. ~Maria Neira,MD @WHO #RioPlus20 @theIOMKatherine Ellington</div><div>#Health can be used as a measure for vision + success in sustainable development. ~Maria Neira,MD @WHO #RioPlus20 @theIOM #globalhealthKatherine Ellington</div><div> <p>Is an Investment in Health also an Investment in Development?</p> <p>Akiko Maeda, Ph.D., Sector Manager, Health, Nutrition and Population, World Bank</p> </div><div>Is an Investment in Health also an Investment in Development? Response fr health economist Akiko Maeda @WorldBank #Rioplus20 #globalhealthKatherine Ellington</div><div>@WorldBank = development agency with a multi-sectorial approach including #health strategies for poverty reduction. ~Akiko Maeda #Rioplus20Katherine Ellington</div><div>Maeda: Linkages/relationships betwen health sys, health outcomes and economic dev is imp #Rioplus20 #globalhealth http://yfrog.com/h3japnapKatherine Ellington</div><div>Maeda: @WorldBank mult-sectorial investments in health with a life cycle approach http://yfrog.com/mn74qp #RioPlus20Katherine Ellington</div><div>Tracking Health-Related Goals/Indicators for Sustainable Development John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H. @NIEHS #RioPlus20 @theIOM @pahowhoKatherine Ellington</div><div> <p>Tracking Health-Related Goals and Indicators for Sustainable Development</p> <p>John M. Balbus, M.D., M.P.H., Senior Advisor for Public Health, National Institute of Environmental HealthSciences</p> </div><div>Balbus: Sustainable dev themes related to #Rio+20 from a health scientist point of view #RioPlus20 http://yfrog.com/es1uapKatherine Ellington</div><div>A full review of the meeting:<br></div><div>SEMINAR RIO + 20 Wed May 9 2012 11:01:13 AMLivestream</div>