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 Every child deserves the right to health, and no child should face threats to health from unsafe environments at home, in school or in the community.
Message by Dr. Mirta Roses Periago
Director, Pan American Health Organization
In the places where children live, learn and play, they are all too often exposed to unsafe water, diseases transmitted by mosquitoes and other vectors, indoor air pollution, and hazards that cause them accidental injuries.
We have ways of preventing deaths and disease from these causes. To help draw attention to strategies to combat environmental threats to children's health, which need to be put into practice in every community, we are dedicating this World Health Day (April 7) and Health in the Americas Week (April 7-14) to highlighting Healthy Environments for Children.
 Since the launch of the Healthy Environments for Children Initiative last year, we have begun a movement to mobilize children, parents, schools, communities and governments everywhere to make children's lives healthier where they live, learn and play.
I ask that we work together to build on existing programs, take concrete actions according to local needs, and improve children's health by reducing their exposure to environmental health threats such as dirty water, indoor air pollution, pesticides or poisons, and accidental injuries. There is much we can do that will benefit today's children as well as future generations—if we work together.
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