Agriculture and Environmental Health in Central Europe:
Opportunities for Research and Intervention
Slovak Postgraduate Academy of Medicine
Modra-Harmonia, Slovakia
September 15-17, 2000
Introduction
In Central Europe, about thirty percent of the population occupies small towns and villages, and agriculture is the main occupation of percentages varying between 5 and 25. While rural life is usually considered to be healthier than that of fast-paced, industrialized, urban centers, there is reason for a closer examination of this myth. Epidemiological studies indicated that many health problems are more serious in rural areas. The environment of this population – the air, water and soil – is heavily influenced by the nature of agricultural production, which in turn affects their health. Also, the occupational hazards of farming, including exposure to physical, chemical and biological agents, impact the health of production workers and their families. Often compounding problems, rural agricultural areas experience more poverty and have limited access to health care and to intervention services. During the period of transition toward full involvement in a market-based economy and participation in the European Union harmonization process, there is a critical need to assess research needs, priorities and intervention strategies related to agriculture and environmental health.
In mid-September, 2000, about 60 invited delegates from Central Europe Western Europe and North America met in the small community of Modra-Harmonia, outside of Bratislava, Slovakia. For two days participants discussed agricultural, occupational, and rural health issues, research, and current interventions in the targeted countries of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine, in order to raise the level of awareness and understanding about agriculture and its relationship to rural health and environmental protection, and to develop action plans for the future. This “working conference” came about because of ongoing collaboration in Central Europe by The University of Iowa that has focused on environmental and occupational health issues mainly affecting rural populations.
Publications
This conference summary was published in the April 2001 edition of the European EpiMarker (vol. 5, No. 2), a newsletter of the International Center for Studies and Research in Biomedicine, Luxembourg, and distributed widely in Central and Eastern Europe and other countries.
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