Environmental Health in Israel | 2014

Environmental Health in Israel 2014 - 4 - This report, Environmental Health in Israel 2014, is the result of an extremely productive partnership between an NGO, the Environment and Health Fund and a government agency, the Public Health Services at the Ministry of Health.  It is made possible by the commitment of both to improving the health of Israelis by reducing their exposures to environmental hazards. What that means in practice is taking a good hard look at what we know – what we count, what we measure, what we monitor, both with respect to environmental hazards, and to health endpoints.  And at the same time, it means asking what more needs to be done in order to improve environmental health policy. Prof. Itamar Grotto, Director of the Public Health Services at the Ministry continues to play a leadership role in environmental health research and policy. Dr. Tamar Berman, Chief Toxicologist of Environmental Health, who spearheaded the effort, with the help of Dr. Isabella Karakis and Dr. Shay Reicher, worked for months writing the report and integrating the comments and corrections of two dozen reviewers with specific content area expertise.  The full list of reviewers who contributed to the report can be found on page 93. The report presents a snapshot of the current situation in Israel with regard to data and monitoring, ongoing research, current regulation, along with a description of recent progress and the challenges for the near future.  There will no doubt be aspects we have missed. There will be those who find this report too critical, while others will surely say it is not critical enough. We have attempted to candidly present the challenges, in the context of bringing stakeholders together to work towards a common goal. We welcome readers’ comments and corrections. Preface