Delegates at the 69th World Health Assembly approved a road map for responding to the adverse health effects of air pollution – the world’s largest single environmental risk. Every year 4.3 million deaths occur from exposure to indoor air pollution and 3.7 million deaths are attributable to outdoor air pollution. Most large cities globally, and 98% of low and middle- income cities, have air pollution exceeding WHO’s guideline levels.
The four year road map focuses on four areas of action:
- Expanding the knowledge base about impacts of air pollution on health;
- Monitoring and reporting on health trends and progress towards the air pollution-related targets of the Sustainable Development Goals;
- Leveraging the health sector to raise awareness of health benefits from air pollution reduction measures; and
- Enhancing the health sector’s capacity to work with other sectors and at all levels – local, national, regional and global – to help address the adverse health effects from air pollution through training, guidelines and national action plans.
The importance of intersectoral action was emphasized by an exchange of video messages between WHO Director General Dr Margaret Chan and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, aired just prior to the WHA vote. Dr Chan, speaking in a videotaped message to the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, described air pollution as "the new epidemic demanding urgent attention." She further stressed the need for air pollution to be combatted jointly from the environment, energy, transport and finance sectors especially as part of the sustainable development agenda. See related links.