Discussion On Effects Of Climate Change On Health
By Finaz Daniel

Bandar Seri Begawan - Community leaders in the country gathered with government officials to deliberate issues and strategies to reduce health risks pertaining to climate change in a workshop yesterday.

Held at the Civil Service Institute in Rimba, Gadong, and organised by the Ministry of Health in conjunction with World Health Day 2008, the workshop was attended by 66 participants.

Participants comprised government officials from several agencies namely the Department of Health Services, Civil Aviation Department, Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation, National Disaster Management Centre, Forestry Department, Agriculture Department, Department of Schools, Department of Drainage and Sewerage and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Also attending were mukim and village leaders as well as representatives from various industries which are involved in environmental impacts in the country. Dato Paduka Serbini Hj Au, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health, was present as guest of honour at the event to present certificates to the participants.

The workshop required the participants to split into two groups with each group assigned to their respective tasks in accordance to the lectures they received from invited speakers to the workshop.

The participants were then required to present their respective work to the community leaders who heard presentations on `identifying health impacts' from the first group and `selecting adapting measures' from the second.

Professor Jeffery Spickett, dean of graduate studies at Curtin University of Technology in Australia, was one of the invited s eakers of the workshop yesterday. Spickett and other speakers from the Department of Health Services, Civil Aviation Department and Brunei Shell Petroleum Company, briefed the participants on their tasks relating to issues pertaining to climate change and its impact on health.

Summaries of the workshop will be incorporated in the National Action Plan on Environmental Health, a plan outlining the cooperation and integration of environmental and health issues, according to Dr Hjh Rahmah Hj Md Said, director of the environmental health department of the Ministry of Health.

It was further disclosed that a workshop has already been planned to take place in June this year to address the issues relating to the national action plan with various relevant authorities. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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