ADPH respond to National Air Quality Strategy

Air pollution causes a considerable burden of death and disability and costs the UK economy £22.6 billion every year.

In the UK, 40,000 deaths a year are attributed to exposure to outdoor air pollution through increased risk of diseases such as heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases and cancer. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called air pollution (both indoor and outdoor): “the biggest environmental risk to health, carrying responsibility for about one in every nine deaths annually”.

It is therefore timely for the Government to review its National Air Quality Strategy.

The consultation has a lot of focus on the role of local government, without any specific indication of funding, and little on the role of national government.