TIRANA, June 23 /ATA/ – Environmental degradation and climate change are having a growing impact on human health, experts said at an international public health and environment conference held in Tirana on Tuesday.
The two-day conference, hosted by the Albanian Academy of Sciences in partnership with George Mason University in the United States and Italy’s Ramazzini College, brought together researchers, public health specialists and institutional representatives from Albania and abroad.
Participants discussed the effects of environmental quality and climate change on public health, with speakers highlighting the links between air and water pollution, food safety, emerging infectious diseases and broader environmental challenges.
Vasil Tole, vice president of the Albanian Academy of Sciences, said issues such as air and water pollution, food security, climate change and emerging infectious diseases could no longer be treated as isolated problems and required coordinated responses from scientific institutions, policymakers and society.
Eugena Tomini, Albania’s deputy minister of health and social protection, said the environmental crisis and climate change were profoundly affecting human health, adding that a healthy environment could help prevent nearly one-quarter of the overall burden of disease.
Xheladin Draçini, rector of the University of Medicine in Tirana, said environmental change, urbanisation and social factors were exerting an increasingly significant influence on public health, while scientific research remained essential to developing evidence-based and sustainable solutions.
Speakers also stressed the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation and the “One Health” approach, which recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal and environmental health.
The conference continued with presentations by Albanian and international researchers on recent developments in public health, environmental protection and occupational health, with discussions focusing on air, water and food quality, pollution and the health impacts of climate change.
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