Skip to main content
Support
Event

Health and Environmental Challenges: China's Biggest Risks or Opportunities for Collaboration?

Environmental degradation and communicable disease, perhaps surprisingly, rank among China's top risks. China's successful economic reforms have, in great part, been built on environmental destruction and growing social inequalities.

Date & Time

Tuesday
Apr. 10, 2007
9:00am – 11:00am ET

Overview

Environmental degradation and communicable disease, perhaps surprisingly, rank among China's top risks. China's successful economic reforms have, in great part, been built on environmental destruction and growing social inequalities. These inequalities have resulted in a failing rural health care system and have placed China at 187 out of 191 countries in a recent World Health Organization survey of health care inequality.

With the threat of Avian Influenza looming, and chronic disease on the rise, the already fragile health care system leaves the nation particularly vulnerable to future outbreaks and a more generalized HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to United Nations estimates, 650,000 people are infected with HIV, and they predict 10 million Chinese will be infected by 2010.

China's litany of environmental woes is long and health impacts are growing. Chinese cities are some of the most polluted in the world and half of China's rivers are so contaminated that they should not be used for industry, agriculture, or drinking. Every year, air pollution in China causes up to 400,000 premature deaths and 75,155,000 asthma attacks. Anecdotal evidence indicates that cancer, tumor, and miscarriage rates in many of the more polluted river basins are on the rise.

The three speakers at this meeting highlighted how the U.S. government and other organizations are collaborating with Chinese counterparts to address some these sobering environmental and health challenges.
 

Tagged


Hosted By

China Environment Forum

Since 1997, the China Environment Forum's mission has been to forge US-China cooperation on energy, environment, and sustainable development challenges. We play a unique nonpartisan role in creating multi-stakeholder dialogues around these issues.  Read more

Environmental Change and Security Program

The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy.  Read more

Maternal Health Initiative

Life and health are the most basic human rights, yet disparities between and within countries continue to grow. No single solution or institution can address the variety of health concerns the world faces. By leveraging, building on, and coordinating the Wilson Center’s strong regional and cross-cutting programming, the Maternal Health Initiative (MHI) promotes dialogue and understanding among practitioners, scholars, community leaders, and policymakers.  Read more

Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.