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Webinar: Urban Health Initiative – engaging the health sector to realize climate and health benefits

This webinar introduces the Urban Health Initiative, which aims to reduce deaths and diseases associated with short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and other air pollutants at the city level.
Eamon Devlin

Introduction

Around seven million premature deaths annually are attributed to air pollution – one in eight premature deaths globally. A significant proportion of these deaths occur in developing cities where air pollution levels are high and growing rapidly. Indeed, only 12% of cities worldwide achieve World Health Organization (WHO) guideline levels for air pollution – and some cities suffer from air pollution levels that are as much as 10 times, or more, above the guideline limits.

The Urban Health Initiative (UHI) is implemented by WHO in collaboration with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and CCAC partners. The UHI aims to reduce deaths and diseases associated with short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) and other air pollutants, and to enhance health co-benefits from policies and measures to tackle emissions on city level. On the one hand, this shall be achieved by mobilizing and empowering the health sector. The sector’s currently underused influential and credible position shall be used to promote the implementation of SLCP reduction strategies through policy change in polluting economic sectors. On the other hand, the full range of health and climate benefits to local populations from the implementation of local emission reduction policies and strategies shall be demonstrated to the public and to decision-makers.

The first UHI pilot project is currently being implemented in Accra (Ghana) by WHO and CCAC partners, amongst others including the Government of Norway, ICLEI, UN-Habitat, US EPA, the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), in addition to local partners including the Ghana Health Service and Ghana EPA.

Read more about the Urban Health Initiative (UHI) at http://www.ccacoalition.org/en/initiatives/health

Speakers

Thiago de Sáand Michael Hinsch,World Health Organisation (WHO)

Webinar information

This webinar was held on October 31, 2017, 1 – 2 pm CET. Find out more about the webinar here.

Find the slides of the webinar here.

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