The conference, which began on Tuesday and came to a close yesterday, addressed several issues, mainly the study of the damage caused to children’s health by environmental threats.

Health and environment ministers, experts in the field and NGOs from 52 European countries came together to discuss a plan of action and specify the issues that should be given priority.

A report was published to show the link between air pollution and children’s deaths and respiratory diseases in children and adolescents.

The conference also studied the situation and reviewed the progress made from the first European ministerial conference held in 1989.

An effort will be made for a policy to be drawn up to create a system for information from all European countries to be gathered and shared. The Maltese delegation had an active role in the conference, with Dr Deguara being one of the main speakers.

The minister led one of the 10 plenary sessions and addressed the press. Together with Austria, France, Holland, Sweden and Switzerland, Malta took part in a project entitled Transport-related health effects in particular on children – towards an integrated assessment of their cost and benefits.

The final workshop of this project was held in Malta last February and will contribute to the drawing up of the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan.

Despite being the smallest participant country, Malta made a strong contribution to the conference which was held in Budapest. Many of the other participating countries admired the fact the Malta was capable of filling a role often occupied by much larger countries.

The conference was organised by the regional European office of the World Health Organisation.