Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-09-04-Speech-2-282"
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"en.20010904.11.2-282"2
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"Mr President, on behalf of the Green Group I would like to welcome both of these reports. In the limited speaking time I have, I want to focus on just one aspect and that is the health aspects of flying.
It is true to say that in the past the airlines have been woefully neglecting passengers' health. That is beginning to change but there is still a long way to go. I particularly welcome the fact that Mr Collins has devoted a clear section in his report to health and I strongly support his calls for the airlines to be far more proactive in giving information about health risks. We need far greater clarity. Information should be available when you book your ticket. It needs to be there in doctors' surgeries. There needs to be a health briefing in the same form as the current safety briefing on board, including advice on the preventative measures that can be taken. Of course life is not risk-free but there has to be a balance in that risk and if people know what the choices are, they are more likely to be able to make an informed judgement.
On deep-vein thrombosis for example, although for over ten years there have been reports of people getting blood clots after travelling by plane no comprehensive independent research has been carried out. According to a recent report in The Lancet by a London-based consultant, as many as one in ten people get blood clots of some kind on long-haul flights. Clearly serious health risks are very slight for the vast majority but for a few they are very real. We need to respond to that in terms of both research and the action resulting from that research. More space in aircraft, for example, and less emphasis in getting as many people on board, in as small a place as possible with as much profit as possible.
There was another example in the press this morning. A Canadian researcher was saying that as a result of air recycling in the cabin some passengers are at risk of catching diseases as serious as tuberculosis. His claims have been refuted by the airlines. The issue here is not the rights or wrongs of this latest allegation but the fact that this type of uncertainty will continue unless we have a new proactive strategy based on more and better research, appropriate action by the airlines and better information to the public."@en1
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