The international conference on environment and health in Central and Eastern Europe took place on Monday, 11 March 2024, at the Masaryk University campus in Brno, Czech Republic. The conference, organised jointly by the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health in cooperation with the RECETOX Centre ↗ of Masaryk University, brought scientists and experts from nine Central and Eastern European countries (extended V4+ format) to Brno, together with representatives of the best European research institutes dedicated to research on environmental exposures and public health, as well as high level representatives of the World Health Organisation ↗ and director of the European Environment Agency ↗.

More than 100 participants agreed that to protect people's health in the Central and Eastern European region from the negative consequences of chemical exposures, we need to strengthen cooperation between the environment and health sectors, share available data and use it in decision-making processes. However, it must also be acknowledged that there is a lack of data in this region. It is therefore necessary to strengthen cooperation among Central and Eastern European countries and to formulate common regional priorities and strategies. The countries agreed on the need for long-term investment in research infrastructures for long-term environmental and population studies, laboratory capacities and database systems. The need to restore trust in science, which is declining with the development of new communication channels and social networks, was also strongly voiced. There is a need to educate youth and children and to make them literate in environmental and lifestyle issues and their impact on human health and the functioning of society, but especially in critical thinking and the ability to sort information. There are also gaps in university education, because in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, there is virtually no training of experts in epidemiology and environmental health, areas that are essential for the development of a comprehensive concept of public health, but also for the development of precision medicine.

As for PARC, Tamás Szigeti, head of laboratory, National Center for Public Health and Pharmacy in Hungary, gave an overview of the project in the panel discussion on chemical pollution of ambient and indoor air, in which he emphasised the role PARC can play for the Central and Eastern European region to move forward with advanced policies for the protection of environment and health. 

The chair of the PARC Governing Board, Thomas Jakl, described his regulatory experience and elaborated upon the role of national authorities and challenges arising from the need to stand up for the protection of environment and health. 

Jana Klánová, director of RECETOX and co-leader of the research infrastructure work in PARC highlighted that for policies to be successful, policy makers must be willing to take strategic decisions on long-term investments in the environment and health domain. The Czech Republic, for example has one of the oldest biomonitoring programmes in Europe operated by the National Institute of Public Health in Prague, and in Brno itself, whose Living Laboratory has been running not only the CELSPAC population studies for many years, but also participatory programmes for school children and adults, were cited as examples of good practice at these meetings. She also gave an example of a successful science-policy cooperation: the Czech National Centre for Toxic Compound that acts as a science-policy platform in the area of chemical risks. 

Additionally, Ľubica Murínová from the Slovak Medical University, Marike Kolossa-Gehring from the German Environment Agency (UBA), Milena Horvat (Jožef Stefan Institute), Maria Uhl (Environment Agency Austria) and Jelle Vlaanderen (Utrecht University), all working in PARC, participated in the conference by either delivering presentations or contributing to the panels.

Further information at RECETOX press release ↗.