Dr. Maria Neira, director of Environment, Climate Change and Health at the World Health Organization, and her delegation visited National Institute of Environmental Health, China CDC

On the afternoon of June 24, 2024, Dr. Maria Neira, director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change, and Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), along with a four-person delegation, visited the National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEH), China CDC. Professor Shi Xiaoming, deputy director of China CDC, Diao Fei, assistant professor at China CDC's Office of Foreign Affairs; Wang Lin, Director of NIEH; Yao Xiaoyuan, secretary of the party committee of NIEH; Dai Yufei, deputy director of NIEH; Xu Dongqun, chief expert in environmental health; and related technical specialists attended the meeting.The meeting was presided by director Wang Lin.

 

Deputy director Shi Xiaoming warmly welcomed Dr. Maria Neira and her team, expressing gratitude for WHO’s consistent support of China's work in environmental health. He emphasized the Chinese government’s prioritization of environmental health, detailing key initiatives that havesignificantly improved the environmental health quality. Furthermore, Shi provided an overview of China’s endeavors in air pollution and health, climate change and health, and health risk assessments of new environmental pollutants.

 

Ms. Qiao Jianrong, WHO Representative in China, highlighted the strong collaborative ties maintained under the framework of the China-WHO Country Cooperation Strategy. Through this initiative, WHO and China have conducted numerous collaborative activities in global climate change and health, as well as environmental health. Following her remarks, Dr. Li TianTian, a researcher in NIEH, outlined the Institute's functions, national monitoring and scientific research efforts, previous cooperative endeavors with WHO, and the vision to become a designated WHO Collaborating Centre.

 

Dr. Maria Neira praised China's exceptional progress in addressing health issues related to air pollution. She acknowledged the significant contributions of NIEH in this sector and expressed her hope for China to share its accumulated knowledge and technological advancements with other nations. Dr. Neira expressed support for the Institute's application to be recognized as a WHO Collaborating Centre.

 

The discussions further covered cooperative prospects in areas such as air pollution and health, climate change and health, and international collaboration and exchange. Following the symposium, Dr. Maria Neira and her team visited the laboratories specializing in Environmental Chemistry and Environmental Toxicology at the Institute.

 

 

Tour of the Environmental Toxicology Laboratory[Photo/chinacdc.cn]