Public health: Programme of Community action 1999-2003 on pollution-related diseases

In adopting the report by Mr Christian CABROL (UPE, F), the European Parliament welcomed the adoption of a programme to combat pollution-related diseases, but took the view that its scope was too limited. It called in particular for the programme not to be confined to respiratory diseases and allergies but to deal, more generally, with pollution-related diseases, stressing in particular that the diseases concerned must be defined clearly. Parliament called for the programme to pave the way for priority action by the Community in this field after the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty, and for the current programme to: -contribute to the realization of Community-wide epidemiological studies and the setting up in the Member States of a registration system for pollution-related health complaints to increase knowledge of the impact of certain pollutants, -improve knowledge of behaviour patterns, ways of life and eating habits that could reduce the health risks caused by pollution, -promote actions to improve the level of knowledge of the general public about the impact of the various different policies on pollution and health. Parliament called for the appropriation for the programme for the period 1999-2003 to be increased to ECU 14 million.�