Public policy on children's environmental health in Asia

Asia contains half of the world's children, and the countries of Asia are the most rapidly industrializing nations of the globe. Environmental threats to children's health are widespread in Asia and are multiplying as countries undergo industrial development, urbanization, and pass through the epidemiologic transition. In response to this crisis, governments in Asian countries developed regulations and basic facilities for managing air and water pollutants in the 20th century. Environmental quality improved. However, government regulations on air and water pollution are not sufficient to protect the health of Asian children against toxic chemicals. New environmental health policies have therefore been formulated. In Korea, to protect children from environmental threats to health, the national government established the Children's Environmental Health Policy in 2006. Under this policy, a council for the promotion of child safety was created, and the government developed a national child safety plan. The government began for the first time to supervise risk management for children's products, developed environmental education programs, and launched a new advertising campaign for children's environmental health. The government also established early monitoring systems for environmental diseases in children and a national network of environmental health centers to manage children's environmental diseases. Korea, China, and Japan have launched major prospective, longitudinal birth cohort studies to examine the impacts of the environment on the health of Asian children.