Health professionals walk to Parliament to demand action on air pollution

Delivering a letter to the Government, this is the largest movement of healthcare professionals in the UK to call for urgent and ambitious action to clean up our dirty air and prevent the devastating impacts air pollution has on our health.

Signed by over 400 healthcare professionals – the letter calls on the Government to meet World Health Organization air quality guidelines, the international standard to protect public health.

In London, over 100 doctors, nurses, patients and activists met at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children (GOSH) to walk and wheel their way to Parliament Square to deliver the letter to mark Clean Air Day.

The event, in partnership with Global Action Plan and Health Equals, was part of activity across the UK to mark Clean Air Day.

Air pollution affects your health from before your first breath until your last. Causing between 29,000 and 43,000 known premature deaths per year, it is the UK’s fourth biggest killer and is linked to a range of health problems at every stage of our lives – from premature birth and effects on organ development in childhood, through to causing heart and lung disease, cancer, diabetes and strokes in adulthood.

New analysis released on Clean Air Day from the Royal College of Physicians estimates that costs for healthcare, productivity losses and reduced quality of life due to air pollution cost the UK more than £27 billion annually. The RCP’s new report: A breath of fresh air: responding to the health challenges of modern air pollution highlights the significant health impacts of air pollution even at low concentrations.

The current UK Government has committed to reviewing its air quality targets, and over 400 healthcare professionals from across the UK have signed a joint letter which urges them to agree to meet World Health Organization air quality guidelines, the international standard to protect public health. Cross party MPs and Lords have confirmed their attendance on Clean Air Day alongside representatives from City Hall and local authorities.