Considering the highest good, human health and life, the organizers and participants of the 5th Congress “Health of Poles” appeal to take actions that will stop the escalating climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis on our planet.
A human being is part of the natural environment – he co-creates it and depends on it. Humans are also destroyed if the Earth’s biodiversity and climate are destroyed. We cannot consent to this.
We recognize the crisis of our planet, which translates into the health of individuals and the condition of societies, which is why we have chosen “One Health” as the main slogan of the 5th Congress “Health of Poles” 2023, taking place on November 13-14, in Kajetany. This is a concept defined by the One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), which included 26 international experts appointed in May 2021 by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
During two intense days of debates, panels and lectures, we analyzed several essential topics related to this idea. Nearly 500 representatives of the world of science and medicine talked in Kajetany about an integral approach to health, which takes into account the impact of the natural environment, animals and humans on health balance. This critical perspective shows that the health of people, domestic and wild animals, plants and the broadly understood environment (including ecosystems) are closely related and interdependent. Man depends on mutual respect for these elements and their harmonious coexistence. A crisis affecting one area affects the others.
Our planet is one organism. If the seas, rivers, forests, and soils are sick, the air is polluted, animals die, and other ecosystems disappear – the Earth is sick, and the human species is at endangered.
We appeal to all public health organizations, decision-makers and political leaders to take action to mitigate climate change and protect biodiversity with an integrated, unifying approach that promotes the well-being of the planet and the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
Threats accumulate over the years. We can still prevent them. Individuals will not stop them, and only cooperation will be beneficial. We have a global health crisis on the planet.
NO ONE SHOULD BE INDIFFERENT. LET’S RESTORE THE EARTH’S HEALTH!
Prof. Henryk Skarżyński
Chairman of the Program Council
Congress “Health of Poles”