Poor air quality is responsible for more than 5 million deaths a year. With 55% of people living in urban areas globally, cities are critical to addressing this growing health crisis.
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Vital Strategies partners with governments to design and implement public health initiatives that bridge the gap between public health needs and solutions, especially in low- and middle- income countries.
Vital Strategies has met with governments and civil society groups in Mumbai, Delhi, Jakarta, Colombo, Shanghai, and Singapore to develop partnerships and identify projects that improve air quality surveillance and accelerate clean fuel conversion. Of particular concern is Southeast Asia, where air pollution is worsening because of the growing population, expanding energy use and extensive forest burning. As it travels across borders, this pollution also threatens neighboring countries.
Vital Strategies is working to assess the health impacts of air pollution, increase public awareness of its harms and its potential solutions, and explore engagement with the finance sector to create development “impact bonds” that will incentivize sustainable practices in the palm oil industry, a major source of regional air pollution.
Vital Strategies joined the Coalition in March 2018. The organisation plans to actively engage with the Coalition’s Urban Health Initiative and its BreatheLife Campaign, and plans to focus its efforts on:
Strengthening health ministry capacity to improve and use data, engage across sectors and promote action on SLCPs for health co-benefits
Applying the tools of strategic communication and advocacy proven effective in other public health areas to inform and activate civil society and governments
Developing champions for air pollution and health, with a focus on health professionals and clinician voices
Poor air quality is responsible for more than 5 million deaths a year. With 55% of people living in urban areas globally, cities are critical to addressing this growing health crisis.
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Air pollution is a major global environmental health risk factor that kills approximately 6 million people—mostly from underserved communities in low-and middle-income countries—every year....
Air pollution is a major global environmental health risk factor that kills approximately 6 million people—mostly from underserved communities in low-and middle-income countries—every year....
Approximately 3 billion people, most of whom live in Asia, Africa, and the Americas, rely on solid fuels (i.e. wood, crop wastes, dung, charcoal) and kerosene for their cooking needs. Exposure to...