Resources

As the issue of air pollution and its effects on public health are thrust into the spotlight of the COVID-19 crisis, it is critical that all clean air stakeholders contribute to the public discourse with thoughtful and evidence-based data—to prevent the spread of misinformation, promote the need for clean air solutions and create public demand for clean air.

Vital Strategies partners with governments around the world, providing data and technical expertise that inform air quality policies. Our program also empowers clinicians and the public to demand cleaner air.

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 72% of all deaths globally and this proportion is growing. Greatest increases in NCD mortality are seen in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Places that only a generation ago knew famine are today experiencing epidemics of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. These epidemics reduce human capital in developing countries and their economic costs are so great that they threaten to slow and even undercut trajectories of economic and social development.

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 household air pollution from burning these fuels is estimated to account for approximately 3 million premature deaths a year.

The Global Household Air Pollution (HAP) Measurements database, commissioned by the World Health Organization, provides an organized summary of data reported in the literature describing HAP microenvironments, methods and measurements. As of June 2018, the database contains measurements from 43 countries obtained from 196 studies published through 2016.