Experts at a seminar Wednesday called for a comprehensive inquiry to explore linkages between health and poverty and factors that negatively influence health sector outcomes. The seminar titled “poverty and social impact of expanded programme for immunization in Pakistan” was organized by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

“Immunization is the most cost effective health intervention against preventable diseases affecting the poor sections of society”, said the experts. They stressed on researchers to identify gaps with empirical evidences and recommendations for policy makers to improve health situation in the country.

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http://pakobserver.net

With the support of the World Bank, Colombia introduced a number of reforms that reduced air pollution levels in large cities and introduced new instruments for improved environmental management, potentially benefitting both the health of its people and also its economy. The Government increased public participation in environmental decision-making, and prepared critical policies and laws related to sustainable development, air quality, water quality, solid waste management, and environmental licensing.

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http://worldbank.org

Many of Asia's poorest people live in unhealthy, squalid conditions, with no clean water or sanitation access. Families cannot escape poverty without water and hygiene infrastructure.

ADB

In rural communities of Africa -- where more than 95 percent of homes have no access to electricity -- solar energy has the power to transform lives. Globally, 1.5 billion people, one quarter of the world's population, live without electricity, according to a United Nations report. Those who can afford any power at all spend large proportions of their income on kerosene for lamps or travel to larger towns to charge their batteries several times a week.

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Many Indians have no clean drinking water. One company is trying to change that with a smart, new and cheap device.

CNN

As part of the Spain-UNEP Partnership for Protected Areas, this initiative supports conservation activities in Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park in the Republic of Congo. This short film presents the objectives and positive impacts this initiative has on local populations' livelihoods.

Strengthening the management of the park will ultimately help improve wildlife conservation planning in the region. It will also contribute to law enforcement and monitoring, including Ebola health monitoring and promote eco-tourism.

UNEP

The Ethiopian Government wants to give everyone a toilet in a country where only a third of its 77 million people have access to sanitation. From rubbish tips in the centre of Addis, to rural orchards across the Rift Valley, Earth Report discovers whether the Governments 'universal access plan' is working.

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Arjun Thapan, ADB Director General for Southeast Asia, discusses the urgent need to address untreated wastewater, which is responsible of 1 in 4 child deaths in Asia. 90% of wastewater in Asia's urban centers is not treated. Solutions lie in investment in wastewater management.

ADB

Poor air quality in Indonesia’s capital city is having a significant impact on residents’ health and there is an urgent need to introduce new initiatives to deal with the problem. To help justify investment in such new strategies, this EEPSEA study looked at the value that citizens in the Jakarta Metropolitan Area (JMA) place on pollution reduction policies for the transportation sector. It shows that, although many residents are mistrustful of the government’s ability to clean up the city’s air, they do place a significant value on clean air.

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EEPSEA

This paper examines the linkages of poverty and environment at the household level in
Philippine slums. Rapid urbanization and the inadequate infrastructure and basic services in large
towns and cities have led to the proliferation of slums and informal settlements in the country.
While poverty incidence of population in key metropolitan centers is on average 17% compared to
the national average of 32%, slum population has been exponentially rising at an average rate of
3.4%. In Metro Manila, which is the prime city, an estimated 37% of population or over 4.0 million Filipinos live in slums in 2010 and slum population growth rate is at 8% annually. These slum dwellers and informal settlers confront on a daily basis another dimension of poverty which is
environmental poverty. The underserviced and bad living conditions in slums impact on health,
livelihood and the social fiber. The effects of urban environmental problems and threats of climate change are also most pronounced in slums due to their hazardous location, poor air pollution and solid waste management, weak disaster risk management and limited coping strategies of households. It has also been argued in several studies that possible trade-offs exist between bad housing and medical care and between bad housing and education. Bad living environment thus
deepens poverty, increases the vulnerability of both the poor and non-poor living in slums and
excludes the slum poor from growth.

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PIDS