Air pollution and health

Air pollution is a major environmental health threat and one of the main risk factors for noncommunicable diseases. Globally, air pollution is responsible for about 7 million premature deaths per year due to ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer, but also from acute lower respiratory tract infections. Further, a growing and consistent body of evidence shows that additional air pollution health effects include preterm and low birth weight, exacerbation and onset of asthma, as well as cognitive and neurological impairment. 

Despite most of health curricula do not sufficiently address the health impacts of air pollution, the international community recently recognized that health workers have a more prominent role to play in the battle for clean air. 

Mandated by its Member States, WHO is developing the Air Pollution and Health Training (APHT) toolkit for health workers. 

The APHT toolkit is a set of materials designed to enable public health workers, in both the clinical and public health fields, to understand the health risks of air pollution and identify risk reduction measures. Public health workers can use the health argument to advocate for clean air interventions and promote the collaboration between civil society relevant actors and governmental institutions for policy implementation. Using a train-the-trainer approach, the APHT toolkit also helps facilitate the organization of in-person workshops, online courses and other learning opportunities. 

Impacts of the toolkit

As of December 2024, the online course has recorded over 4000 participants having achieved recognition of completion. The majority of learners fall within the 20–39 age group with overall representation across all WHO regions. Learn more about the impacts.