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Editor’s choice
A new global study finds that reducing poverty and improving healthcare have played a major role in lowering deaths from air pollution, alongside efforts to cut emissions.
A major new global modelling study led by researchers at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) at the University of York challenges the international focus on air pollution. Published in The Lancet Planetary Health, the study finds that reducing population vulnerability is as important as cutting emissions for saving lives.
The research reveals that while reducing exposure to pollutants is critical, measures such as universal access to quality healthcare and poverty reduction played a crucial, and often overlooked, role in saving lives over the last 30 years.
A population’s risk of harm from air pollution is shaped by a complex set of socioeconomic and health factors, including pre-existing medical conditions, smoking and the quality and accessibility of medical care. In some regions where air quality has not improved, air pollution mortality rates have still dropped exclusively because of reductions in these vulnerability factors.
“While cleaning our air remains a critical goal, our findings demonstrate that reducing emissions is only part of the solution,” said Chris Malley, lead author of the study from SEI at the University of York. “To improve public health, we must also focus on the factors that make people susceptible to harm. Integrating healthcare improvements and poverty reduction into air quality strategies is an essential tool for protecting the world’s most vulnerable populations from the deadly effects of air pollution.”
The study also highlights the benefits of combining reductions in air pollution exposure with efforts to strengthen resilience. Both Europe and North America saw similar declines in air pollution exposure between 1990 and 2019. However, reductions in air pollution-related mortality were almost twice as large in Europe, reflecting greater progress in reducing vulnerability through health and social improvements.
The study concludes that air quality strategies must evolve to include interventions that reduce non-air-pollution health determinants to complement traditional exposure reduction efforts.
“Estimating the vulnerability contribution to 1990–2019 changes in the health burden of ambient air pollution: a global modelling study” was published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Stockholm Environment Institute is an international non-profit research institute that tackles climate, environment and sustainable development challenges. We empower partners to meet these challenges through cutting-edge research, knowledge, tools and capacity building. Through SEI’s HQ and seven centres around the world, we engage with policy, practice and development action for a sustainable, prosperous future for all.
A member of the prestigious Russell Group, the University of York is a dynamic, research-intensive university committed to institutional excellence and social purpose.
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