CEHCA-2005, April 25-28, 2005, Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan

CEHCA – 2005, Children’s Environmental Health in Central Asia

CEHCA-2005 is a major conference on environmental threats to the health of children, to be held in Almaty, Kazakhstan on 25-28 April 2005.  This conference will focus on children’s environmental health issues in the region from Central Asia through the Middle East and Transcaucasia . The conference will gather together more than one hundred specialists, working in the area of environmental health. This event is expected to promote children’s environmental health research initiatives, which will help to improve children’s health in the region.

Objectives of the Conference: To bring together individuals concerned with children’s health in relation to the environment for the purpose of sharing information on the environmental threats to the health of children, promoting interventions that will reduce the burden of children’s disease, promoting collaborations within the region and with public health professions in other parts of the world, and assisting in the search for funds to support activities that promote children’s environmental health. Through publication of the proceedings of the conference a major objective is to bring the concerns about children’s health in this region to the attention of the rest of the world.

Organizers

Monday, 25 April 2005. Conference Opening. (David O. Carpenter, US, Session Chair).

9:00 a.m. Grantsmanship Seminar
1:00 p.m. Conference Opening. Welcome from the Kazakhstan and United States governments, sponsors and collaborators.
US Ambassador to Kazakhstan
Kazakh Ministry of Health
US Environmental Protection Agency
US Agency for International Development
World Health Organization

1:30 p.m. Keynote Lecture: Children’s environmental health challenges in the Euro-West Asian region. William A. Suk, PhD, US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
2:00 p.m. The Children’s Environmental and Health Action Plan for Europe. Leda Nemer, World Health Organization, Rome, Italy.
2:30 p.m. Children’s Environmental Health in Kazakhstan. Dr. Zayra Mazhitova, Kazakh Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
3:00 p.m. Break
3:15 p.m. Panel Discussion: Children’s environmental health concerns in Central Asia and Russia (15 minute presentations by representatives from four countries, followed by discussion).
Uzbekistan – Dr. Dilorom Fayzieva
Kyrgyzstan – Dr. Omar Kasymov
Tajikistan – Dr. Nom Normatov
Russia – Dr. Andrey Demin

5:00 p.m. General Discussion
6:00 p.m. Welcome Recepiton

Tuesday, 26 April 2005. Morning Session. (Dilorom Fayzieva, Uzbekistan, Session Chair).

8:30 a.m. Keynote Lecture: Nutrition, environmental contaminants and disease. Dr. Momoko Chiba, Juntendo, Japan.
9:15 a.m. Household Water Security and Childrens’ Health Risks. Dr. Hani Abu Qdais, Irbid, Jordan.
9:45 a.m. Tobacco use and health. Dr. Irma Makalinao, Manila, Philippines.
10:15 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. Panel Discussion: Children’s environmental health concerns in the Middle East (15 minute presentations by representatives from four of the Middle Eastern countries, followed by discussion)
Iraq – Dr. Dilyara Barzani
Palestine – Dr. Kamal Zaineh
Jordan – Dr. Saleh El Qaderi
Pakistan – Dr. Mahmood Khwaja

12:30 p.m. Lunch

Tuesday, 26 April 2005. Afternoon Session. (Dr. William Suk, USA, Session Chair).

2:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture: Environmental factors and infectious disease. Andrei Pokrovsky, MD, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia.
2:45 p.m. Poster session.
2:45 p.m. WHO Activities Related to Children’s Environmental Health (Ms. L Nemer, Chair, WHO Rome, Italy).
Work group on Childrens’ Health and Environment Action Plan for Europe
Legislation to support the CEHAPE (Carried out by WHO EURO)
Country Case Studies of Actions to Improve CHE (Leda Nemer)
Global Initiative on Children’s Environmental Health Indicators
Perspective from EMRO Pilot (Hamed Bakir, CEHA/MBRO TBC)
Perspective from EURO Pilot (TBC)
Linkages Between CEHAPE and CEHI (Roundtable Discussion)

Wednesday, 27 April 2005. Morning Session. (Ross Upshur, Canada, Session Chair).

8:30 a.m. Keynote Lecture: Neurobehavior effects of environmental contaminants. Dr. Donna Mergler, University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
9:15 a.m. Clinical symptoms and pathogenesis of chronic and complex pathology due to the toxic burden among Aral Sea area children. Dr. Raushan Isaeva, Kazakh State Medical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan.
9:45 a.m. Arsenic exposure and children’s health. Dr. Vasken Aphosian, University of Arizona, Tuscon, Arizona, USA.
10:15 a.m. Break
10:45 a.m. Panel Discussion: Children’s environmental health issues in Transcaucasia (15 minute presentations by representatives of four countries in this region, followed by discussion)
Azerbaijan – Dr. Elshad Mamadov
Turkey – Dr. Ali Karakaya
Georgia – Dr. Gregory Abramia
Armenia – Dr. Amalia Hambartsumyan

12:30 p.m. Lunch
Wednesday, 27 April 2005, Afternoon Session. (K.C. Donnelly, USA, Session Chair).
2:00 p.m. Keynote Lecture: Childrens’ Health in a Refugee Population in Azerbaijan. Dr. K.C. Donnelly, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA.
2:45 p.m Chapaevsk, Russia: 40 Years of Dioxins Exposure on the Human Health and 10 Years of Russian-USA epidemiological Studies. Dr. Boris Revich, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
3:15 p.m. TBD
4:00 p.m. Leave for tour of city and dinner in the mountains.
Thursday, 28 April 2005. (Dr. Zayra Mazhitova, Kazakhstan, Session Chair).
8:30 a.m. Keynote Lecture: Operationalizing a complex environmental disaster. Dr. Ross Upshur, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
9:15 a.m. Aral Sea Basin Conjecturable Ecocatastrophe and Childrens’ Health: Methodology and Results of Complex Comparative Study. Dr. Faina Ingel, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia.
9:45 a.m. Break
10:15 a.m. Break-out sessions
A. The Aral Sea Disaster (Dr. Rustam Kudyakov, USA, Chair).
B. Finding partners to protect children from environmental health hazards. (Dr. Piper Stege, USEPA, Chair).
C. Smoking and indoor air pollution and children’s health ( Dr. Nalini Sathiakumar, USA , Chair).
D. Children and Injury (Dr. Yelena Ten , Kyrgyzstan , Chair).
E. Infectious diseases and environmental health (Ms. Katie Herz, USA, Chair).
F. Environmental Pollutants and Childrens’ Health (A.H. Gilani, Pakistan, Chair).

12:15 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Reports from Break-out Sessions
4:00 p.m. Round table and panel: Where do we go from here?
Zayra Mazhitova, Kazakhstan

M.J. Isobaev, Tajikistan
USAID representative
Errol Mazursky, USEPA
Nino Chikhladze, Georgia

5:00 p.m. General Discussion and closing. (Dr. David Carpenter, USA, Chair).