SAICM Overall Objective: “to achieve the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle so that, by 2020, chemicals are used and produced in ways that lead to the minimization of significant adverse effects on human health and the environment.”

2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Achieving the sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle is a cross-cutting issue that will contribute to achieving many, if not all, 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The Targets listed below are only those that specifically mention chemicals.

Goal 3, Target 3.9: By 2030, to substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination Goal 6, Target 6.3: By 2030, to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally Goal 12, Target 12.4: By 2020, to achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment

Roadmap to enhance health sector engagement in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management towards the 2020 goal and beyond

Knowledge and Evidence

• Risk Assessment,Biomonitoringand Surveillance

• MeasuringProgress

• Sharing andCollaborating

Risk Reduction

• HealthProtectionStrategies

• Healthy Health-Care

• RaisingAwareness

Institutional Capacity

• National Policyand RegulatoryFrameworks

• InternationalHealthRegulations

• Training andEducation

Leadership and Coordination

• Health in allChemicalsPolicies

• Health SectorEngagement andCoordination

• Engagement withOther Sectorsand Stakeholders

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Actions focused on risk management by and within the health sector, including health protection strategies, regulating chemicals, public education, and sharing information and best practices.

Outcome: Reduced risk to health from exposure to chemicals throughout their life cycle through increased health protection activities by the health sector at the national, regional and international level as well as greater interest and awareness within the health sector and in the general community.

Risk Reduction

Raising Awareness Healthy Health-Care Health Protection Strategies

• MS: Develop and implementhealth protection strategies andprograms for high prioritychemicals aimed at vulnerablepopulations such as women,children, and workers.

• MS: Actively engage in and supportthe implementation of thechemicals and waste relatedmultilateral environmentalagreements, particularly healthprotective aspects.

• All: Identify and promote reducedrisk alternatives to highly toxic andpersistent chemicals, taking intoaccount the life cycle of chemicalsincluding waste, and promotingthe use of these alternatives.

• WHO: Finalize guidelines on theprevention and management oflead poisoning; MS: Implementforthcoming guidelines, and phase-out paints containing lead.

• MS: Establish guidance forhealth-care settings topromote and facilitate the useof safer alternatives andsound management of health-care waste, drawing on WHOguidance.

• MS: Develop and implementawareness campaigns forhealth-care workers aboutestablished best practices forsafe chemicals managementwithin the health sector,including occupational,patient/community andenvironmental impacts inhealth care settings.

• MS: Use WHO guidance toreduce the use of mercury inhealth care and managemercury contaminated wastes(in line with Articles 4, 10, and11 of the MinamataConvention and WHA67.11).

• MS: Develop and launch publicawareness campaigns for chemicalsrelated health issues of nationalpriority, such as: e-waste, highlyhazardous pesticides, lead, mercury,or other chemicals of major publichealth concern, occupational hazards,chemicals subject to internationalactions and children’s health.

• All: Promote communication ofrelevant information on chemicalsused in products and processes, toenable informed decision-making byemployers, workers, users andconsumers, and to promote saferalternatives.

• All: Publish and use peer-reviewedarticles on chemicals related health-sector issues in health care, medical,toxicology and other related journals,including those of professional bodies.

• MS, WHO: Support development ofthe health related components of theStrategic Approach information clearing house.

• All: Document experiences with andeffectiveness of various risk reductionactions and prevention strategies andshare this information with others.

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Knowledge and Evidence Actions focused on filling gaps in knowledge and methodologies for risk assessment, increasing biomonitoring and disease surveillance, estimating the burden of disease attributable to chemicals, and measuring progress.

Risk Assessment, Biomonitoring and Surveillance

• MS: Engage in efforts to fill gaps inscientific knowledge, including worktaking place under the StrategicApproach, (e.g., endocrine-activechemicals, nanomaterials,environmentally persistentpharmaceuticals , combinedexposures to multiple chemicals,gender and link to non-communicablediseases).

• MS, WHO: MS contribute to theWHO’s development of globallyharmonized methods for riskassessment, including for combinedexposures to multiple chemicals, thattake account of different use patterns,climate, capacities and gender.

• MS: Investigate the link betweenexposure and health impacts at thecommunity level.

• WHO: Develop guidance on how toprioritise chemicals for assessmentand management.

• MS: Develop or enhance integratedhealth and environmental monitoringand surveillance systems forchemicals throughout their life cycle.

• MS, WHO: Facilitate coordination ofhealth ministries, health-careestablishments, poison informationcentres, and others to enhancetoxicovigilance/toxicosurveillance.

Outcome: Enhanced engagement of the health sector in cooperative efforts to fill current gaps in knowledge and methodologies for risk assessment, biomonitoring, surveillance, estimating the burden of disease, and measuring progress. This includes greater participation in networks and development of new cooperative mechanisms, as necessary, to facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration within the health sector on specific technical issues.

Measuring Progress

• MS: Improve systems for civilregistration and vital statistics, andstrengthen systems to documentcauses of hospital admissions anddeaths due to chemical exposures.

• MS, WHO: Devise better andstandardized methods to estimatethe impacts of chemicals on healthfor improved burden of diseaseestimates.

• All: Devise better and standardizedmethods to estimate thesocioeconomic impact of diseasefrom chemical exposures.

• MS, WHO: Collaborate with theinternational community to developadditional global indicators tobetter measure progress toward the2020 goal and the 2030 SustainableDevelopment Agenda with respectto health impacts.

• MS: Identify and describe nationalindicators of progress on reducingthe burden of disease fromchemicals, aligned with globalindicators where possible.

• All: Develop mechanisms to collectand manage health data andinformation necessary for reportingprogress on the Strategic Approachand other international instruments.

Sharing and Collaborating

• MS: Participate and activelyengage in and contribute tonetworks including the WHOChemical Risk AssessmentNetwork and the WHO INTOXpoison centre network.

• All: Participate in or, ifnecessary, foster the creation ofinteractive websites and/ordiscussion forums for specificissues related to chemicals andhealth.

• MS: Make health-relatedchemicals data available (e.g.risk assessment, biomonitoring,disease surveillance), wherepossible and appropriate andeasily accessible to the local andinternational community.

• All: Collaborate with otherscientific fora studyingchemicals related diseases, inparticular, non-communicablediseases.

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Institutional Capacity Actions to strengthen national institutional capacities to address health threats from chemicals, including in response to chemical incidents and emergencies.

Outcome: Increased capacity and resilience of health systems in order to address all aspects of chemical safety.

International Health Regulations

• MS: Establish/strengthen corecapacities for chemical incident andemergency preparedness, detectionand response, including: chemicalevent surveillance, verification,notification, risk assessment and riskcommunication; inspection capacitiesat ports of entry.

• WHO: Continue to develop andenhance tools, guidance and othersupport aimed at countries tostrengthen core capacities forchemical incidents and emergencies.

• MS, WHO: Establish an internationalhealth workforce to be mobilised torespond to chemical emergencies, e.g.contribute to the WHO Roster ofExperts for chemical incidents andemergencies.

• MS: Strengthen existing, and establishnew poison control centres andnetworks, coordinating as necessaryto reach the objective of all countrieshaving access to a poison informationservice.

• MS: Develop regional networks tocoordinate, strengthen and shareexisting laboratory capacity.

• MS: Improve communication andcollaboration between national focalpoints for the International HealthRegulations (2005), StrategicApproach, and chemicals and wasterelated multilateral environmentalagreements to leverage synergies, e.g.need for risk assessment, surveillance,laboratory capacity and reporting.

Training and Education

• All: Develop training materialsfor targeted audiences (e.g.,Non-governmentalorganisations , governmentofficials, teachers, medicalprofessionals, and health careworkers) on specific topics (e.g.assessing and monitoringhealth risks, gatheringevidence, diagnosing andtreating health disorders,chemical safety awareness,and labelling).

• All: Develop curricula formedical schools and otherrelevant academicinstitutions, and encourageresidencies and fellowships orspecializations inenvironmental health, with anemphasis on toxicology andoccupational and public health.

• WHO: Provide a portal of WHOtraining materials onchemicals and health as acontribution to the StrategicApproach clearinghouse.

• All: Link health professionalassociations with academicenvironmental health or riskanalysis groups andinstitutions to strengthenengagement on andknowledge of chemicalsmanagement issues.

National Policy and Regulatory Frameworks

• MS: Support stronger national policyand regulatory frameworks toaddress the life cycle of chemicalswith a focus on the 11 basicelements identified in paragraph 19of the Strategic Approach’sOrientation and Guidance Document.

• All: Contribute to internationalefforts to develop tools and guidancefor developing national frameworks,such as the IOMC Toolbox.

• MS: Establish health basedguidelines for water, air, soil, food,products, and occupationalexposure drawing on WHO norms,standards and guidelines, asappropriate, and participating in theirdevelopment.

• MS: Support implementation of theGlobally Harmonized System ofClassification and Labelling ofChemicals and support coordinatedimplementation.

• MS: Support regulations to preventdischarge of toxic chemicals andadvocate for appropriate recoveryand recycling technology, as well assafe storage and disposal in line withWHA63.25 and WHA63.26.

• MS: Support stronger monitoring ofproduction, transport and use ofhazardous chemicals and waste, andpromote regional and internationalcooperation with a view toenhancing compliance with existingregulations and preventing illegaltraffic.

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Leadership and Coordination Actions to promote the inclusion of health considerations in all chemicals policies, engagement of the health sector in chemicals management activities at national, regional and international levels, and engagement by the health sector with other sectors.

Outcome: Increased awareness and consideration of health considerations and engagement of the health sector in chemicals management activities at the national, regional and international levels, including engagement with other sectors, leading to increased profile and priority for the global sound management of chemicals throughout their life cycle.

Engagement with Other Sectors and Stakeholders

• MS: Participate in and encouragethe development of sustainable,effective and operational multi-sectoral coordination networks tomaximize collective efforts, asenvisaged by the StrategicApproach.

• All: Facilitate inclusion and activeparticipation of a balance of sectorsand stakeholders in chemicalsmanagement throughout the lifecycle, while recognizing the sharedleadership of the health andenvironment sectors.

• All: Highlight the multi-sectoralimpact that health investments canhave on economies andcommunities.

• All: Look for opportunities to shareinformation, harmonize andleverage efforts of networks inother sectors.

• All: Actively engage in relevantregional and internationalnegotiations, including thoserelated to multilateralenvironmental agreements,development financing andtechnical cooperation, and, wherepossible and appropriate, establisha standing item to discuss issuesrelating to the health sector.

Health in all Chemicals Policies

• All: Improve awareness of thehealth impacts of chemicalexposures throughout their lifecycle, and the resulting costs.

• MS: Promote inclusion of healthpriorities in national chemicalspolicies such as implementationplans and strategies, including forthe 2030 Sustainable DevelopmentAgenda.

• All: Pursue additional initiatives tomobilize financial resources for the health sector, including forWHO, for the sound managementof chemicals and waste.

• All: Organise high-level briefingsessions on chemicals and healthfor politicians and senior officialsat the national, regional and international levels.

• All: Strengthen the chemicalscomponent of national, regionaland international health andenvironmental processes,including at the highest levels.

• All: Include gender and equity as acomponent in all policies,strategies and plans for the soundmanagement of chemicals andwaste.

• MS: Nominate a ministry of healthfocal point for chemicals andestablish a national chemicals andhealth network.

• WHO: Establish a global chemicalsand health network, with regionaland subregional components, tocoordinate health sectorengagement and action.

• MS: Participate in and promote theinclusion of health sector prioritiesin the intersessional process toprepare recommendationsregarding the Strategic Approachand the sound management ofchemicals and waste beyond 2020.

• MS: Participate actively in decisionmaking and support strengtheningof national policy and regulatoryframeworks relevant for chemicalsand health.

• MS: Engage in national, regional,and international chemicals fora,including for Strategic ApproachEmerging Policy Issues and OtherIssues of Concern as well as non-communicable diseases.

• All: Implement the Strategy forstrengthening the engagement of the health sector in theimplementation of the Strategic Approach and promote it to others.

Health Sector Engagement and Coordination

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