Dr Maria Neira, Director, Public Health and Environment, WHO
By Shane Shirley-Smith
Orlando, Florida
Recently in an interview, WHO Director, Dr. Maria Neira had some very interesting things to say.
"Major afflictions confronting children now are chronic and disabling conditions: the new pediatric morbidity",she said. "It is reported that asthma mortality has sharply increased, as have the incidences of leukemia and brain cancer; neurodevelopmental dysfunction is widespread; and hypospadias incidence has doubled.
"Furthermore, we are concerned about new chemicals present in household products, cosmetics and toys, about the impact of some new technologies."
Is anyone able to listen to important information like this when the economy is "screaming" so loudly and this country seems to be in such a mess? It seems like almost everyone is hurting: losing hobs, taking pay cuts, living uninsured, having retirement investments wiped out...
Then add a little dose of worrying that someone is going to break into your child's room at night and steal your sweet baby or worse.
But wait, there's more. Take a look at the troubled world we live in today. Personally, I barely recognize my country anymore. It's a place where Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez calls our leader "Comrade" and talks of Obama being more left-wing than himself.
Plus, do not even get me started on the war. Wait a minute, are we still supposed to call it a war?
I am trying to find a balance in my life. Trying to balance my desire to create a beautiful life for my beautiful family with my so many other desires: to inform as many people as I can about how they impact our environment and health with our consumer choices, my love of health and wellness, my love of so many things that only serve to destroy my health and wellness, my desire for new information, my concern for the children of our world, my worry about the political climate of the world...
This balance thing is not so easy...
This life thing is not so easy...
Yet just because it isn't easy, we cannot just tune out and choose to stay uniformed. What we are leaving for our future generations politically, financially and environmentally are intertwined and will prove to have an enormous impact on a healthy future. Keep listening and do all you can to protect your health, the health of our environment and the health of future generations.
For more information, please visit our blog at http://shaneshirleysmith.com and join our Green Community at http://environmentalbooty.ning.com
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
