{"id":18304,"date":"2024-09-07T09:00:41","date_gmt":"2024-09-07T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?post_type=news&p=18304"},"modified":"2024-09-07T09:30:03","modified_gmt":"2024-09-07T07:30:03","slug":"5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/","title":{"rendered":"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let’s call for urgent global air pollution and health action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Statement by the Global Youth Strategy (GYS) on Air Pollution and Climate Health, supported by the World Heart Federation.<\/em><\/p>\n

Today on the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action. Too often we take our breathing for granted. The UN International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, on 7th September, is an opportunity for us all to unite and advocate for clean air for everyone globally. On November 26, 2019, the Second Committee of the 74th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 7 September as the \u201cInternational Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies\u201d. Since then, organisations and individuals from around the world have joined the campaign, to shine a spotlight on the alarming statistics, and to hold their own International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies events.<\/p>\n

The facts are alarming:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Air pollution is now the second leading risk factor for death, causing around 8.1 million premature deaths annually from conditions such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections, including asthma.
\n\u2022 Countries in South Asia and Africa face the highest burden of disease. Populations from low-and middle-income countries are exposed to 1.3-4 times higher levels of ambient PM2.5.
\n\u2022 99% of people worldwide breathe polluted air; air pollution alone was responsible for 8.1 million deaths in 2021 with over 90% associated with noncommunicable diseases.
\n\u2022 Air pollution is responsible for 30% of deaths from lower respiratory tract infections, 28% of deaths from ischemic heart disease, and 48% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
\n\u2022 In 2021, more than 700, 000 deaths in children under 5 years were linked to air pollution; this represents 15% of all global deaths in children under five with causes related to household and outdoor air pollution.
\n\u2022 Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health. By reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of diseases such as stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.
\n\u2022 Acting now can halve global crop losses from air pollutants by 2050. Reducing emissions of methane, an important greenhouse gas and air pollutant, could save between $4 billion to $33 billion.
\n\u2022 The cost of inaction is staggering, with air pollution estimated to cost the global economy $8.1 trillion per year, equivalent to 6.1% of the global GDP due to increased healthcare costs.<\/p>\n

Become “air pollution terminators” and play a more active role in pressing policymakers said Dr Maria Neira, Director of Environment, Climate Change and Health at WHO.<\/p>\n

The theme for the fifth annual International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, \u201cInvest in #CleanAirNow\u201d, highlights the urgent need for stronger partnerships, increased investment, and shared responsibility to combat air pollution. Air pollution, indoors and outdoors, directly impacts human and ecosystem health. We all share and breathe the same air; thus, we all have a responsibility to invest in protecting our atmosphere and ensuring healthy air for everyone.<\/p>\n

Household air pollution:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Though since 2000 the disease burden for household air pollution (HAP) has decreased, this is largely due to bold actions to reduce air pollution exposure in China and South Asia;
\n\u2022 Around 2.1 billion people worldwide (around a third of the global population) cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fuelled by kerosene, biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) and coal, which generates harmful household air pollution.
\n\u2022 Women and children, typically responsible for household chores such as cooking and collecting firewood, bear the greatest health burden from the use of polluting fuels and technologies in homes.
\n\u2022 Household air pollution exposure leads to noncommunicable diseases including stroke, ischaemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), lung cancer and asthma.
\nAmbient air pollution:
\n\u2022 Despite the awareness of air pollution harms, PM2.5 concentration levels the key pollutant for human health declined globally by just 1% annually between 2010 and 2019;
\n\u2022 Ambient air pollution is currently the sixth biggest risk factor for mortality globally, the seventh for DALYs, and the number one environmental risk factor.
\n\u2022 99% of the world\u2019s population is living in places where the WHO air quality guidelines levels are not met.
\n\u2022 Some 89% of those premature deaths occurred in low-and middle-income countries and the greatest number in the WHO South-East Asia and Western Pacific Regions.
\n\u2022 Policies and investments supporting cleaner transport, energy-efficient homes, power generation, industry and better municipal waste management would reduce key sources of indoor air pollution.<\/p>\n

“When we connect the experience between the patient story and the reality of the disease, the cause, the risk factor, then we begin feeling differently about what is happening from air pollution”, said Elvis Ndikum, President of the Global Youth Strategy (GYS) on Air Pollution and Climate Health. GYS joins the global clean air community to call for these essential actions that aim at leaving no one behind in the response that will fast-track the reduction of the burden from air pollution and improve global health:<\/p>\n

1. All development partners should urgently strengthen partnerships that will scale up funding to overcome the increasing burden and impacts of air pollution on health at local, national, regional and global levels;<\/p>\n

2. Academia and health professionals must increase awareness and education among students, the public and policymakers that air pollution is a major component of global health.<\/p>\n

3. Countries should adopt World Health Organization air quality guidelines to reduce ambient, indoor, and occupational air pollution for all countries.<\/p>\n

4. Countries should support the World Health Organization to take bold actions at the Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health aiming at accelerating action for clean air, clean energy technologies access and climate change mitigation.<\/p>\n

5. Countries should urgently develop national air pollution and health strategies that are people-centred with vulnerable populations including children, youth, elderly and patient voices included.<\/p>\n

6. Civil society, health and research agencies at the country, regional and global levels should conduct multidisciplinary evidence-to-policy change studies into the cardiovascular, respiratory and mental health links to ambient and household air pollution.<\/p>\n

“If you know anything about waste in Africa and a lot of developing regions, you will understand that the informal sector provides waste services and provides almost all waste management on the continent” said Dr Andriannah Mbandi.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Learn more about the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All quoted statistics are from the recent State of Global Air 2024 reports, World Heart Report 2024, the SDG7 Tracking Report 2024, the UN Environment Programme, the WHO Second Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health 2025, and the WHO\u2019s New Opportunities for Air Pollution and Health Education: Launching an OpenWHO Online Course for Health Workers.<\/p>\n

Learn more about the work of the Global Youth Strategy (GYS) on Air Pollution and Climate Health here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Statement by the Global Youth Strategy (GYS) on Air Pollution and Climate Health, supported by the World Heart Federation. Today on the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action. Too often we take our breathing for granted. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12926,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"event":[],"project-campaign":[],"topic":[158],"class_list":["post-18304","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World Heart Federation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-09-07T07:30:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"5472\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"3496\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/\",\"name\":\"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-07T07:00:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-09-07T07:30:03+00:00\",\"description\":\"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg\",\"width\":5472,\"height\":3496,\"caption\":\"A man running next to a refinery\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let’s call for urgent global air pollution and health action\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/\",\"name\":\"World Heart Federation\",\"description\":\"Cardiovascular Health for Everyone\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"World Heart Federation\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main-logo.svg\",\"width\":183,\"height\":59,\"caption\":\"World Heart Federation\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action","description":"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action","og_description":"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.","og_url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/","og_site_name":"World Heart Federation","article_modified_time":"2024-09-07T07:30:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":5472,"height":3496,"url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/","url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/","name":"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let's call for urgent global air pollution and health action","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg","datePublished":"2024-09-07T07:00:41+00:00","dateModified":"2024-09-07T07:30:03+00:00","description":"Today on Clean Air Day, people affected by and working to fight against air pollution, come together for clean air action.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/air-pollution.jpg","width":5472,"height":3496,"caption":"A man running next to a refinery"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/5th-international-day-of-clean-air-for-blue-skies-lets-call-for-urgent-global-air-pollution-and-health-action\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"5th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies: Let’s call for urgent global air pollution and health action"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/","name":"World Heart Federation","description":"Cardiovascular Health for Everyone","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#organization","name":"World Heart Federation","url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/main-logo.svg","width":183,"height":59,"caption":"World Heart Federation"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/18304"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/18304\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18307,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/18304\/revisions\/18307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18304"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"event","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/event?post=18304"},{"taxonomy":"project-campaign","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/project-campaign?post=18304"},{"taxonomy":"topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world-heart-federation.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/topic?post=18304"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}