London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Over 200 international experts from academic institutions, government bodies and civil society groups met at the School (LSHTM) 18-20 August to discuss the major challenges facing people, wildlife and ecosystems at the Ecohealth 2010 conference.

At the conference, scientists called on governments to focus their attention on environmental issues and not to lose sight of environmental goals during the economic downturn. They specifically emphasised the perspectives of people most vulnerable to the harms of ecosystem destruction including indigenous people, women and children.

Ecohealth 2010 was the third biennial meeting of the International Association for Ecology and Health. The conference highlighted government cuts in the wake of the recent economic downturn and suggested that, whilst governments may view slashing environmental budgets as a short term solution, they are missing the bigger picture. Investment in these areas is crucial if we are to prevent;

• Rise of infectious diseases such as malaria and avian flu
• Loss of key species
• Lack of access to clean water for much of the world’s population

The main themes of the conference are: Urban Ecohealth; Biodiversity and Ecohealth; and Sustainability and future priorities for Ecohealth.

Dr Carolyn Stevens, organiser of the Ecohealth 2010 conference and Reader in International Environmental Health at LSHTM said, "In the wake of the East Anglia University email leaks and the failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference to come to a definite conclusion, we need to persuade governments to keep environmental issues high on the agenda. With most of the world’s population becoming increasingly urbanised, we distance ourselves from our environment and are in danger of losing species unless we take urgent action."