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Health and air pollution resources
11 March 2025
We partner with organisations around the world to mobilise the health community and advocate for clean air as a global health priority. Below are useful resources on air pollution and health that provide evidence, analysis, strategies and policy recommendations. These resources were developed by research organisations, intergovernmental institutions and global organisations representing healthcare practitioners.
Global air quality data and health impacts
The State of Global Air 2024 report by Health Effects Institute.
Annual Update 2024 by Air Quality Life Index.
Air pollution deaths attributable to fossil fuels – an observational and modelling study published in the British Medical Journal.
The Global Health Cost of PM2.5 Air Pollution – a report by the World Bank Group.
Trends in Air Quality and Health in Southeast Europe – a State of Global Air Special Report by Health Effects Institute.
The State of Air Quality and Health Impacts in Africa – a report from the State of Global Air Initiative by Health Effects Institute.
Air Quality and Health in Cities – a report from the State of Global Air initiative by Health Effects Institute.
Global air quality guidelines: Particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), Ozone, Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide – a report by the WHO.
The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment – a resolution adopted by the Human Rights Council on 8 October 2021.
Our right to health, our right to clean air: Improving air quality to address non-communicable diseases – a policy brief by the Non-Communicable Disease Association (NCDA).
Health and climate change
Review of health in Nationally Determined Contributions and long-term strategies: health at the heart of the Paris Agreement – a report by the WHO.
The 2024 Europe report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action – by Lancet Public Health.
Clean Air NDC Scorecard 2023 – by the Global Climate and Health Alliance.
Children’s health and pediatrics
Clean Air, Healthy Children: An Agenda for Action: Protecting Children from Seven Deadly Sources of Air Pollution – a report by UNICEF.
A Threat to Progress: Confronting the effects of Climate Change on Child Health and Well-being – a report by UNICEF.
Air pollution in the UK – a position statement by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Protecting Child Health from Air Pollution in India – a journal article by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD).
Ambient air pollution and survival in childhood cancer: A nationwide survival analysis – a journal article by the Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University (Atlanta, Georgia).
Black Child Clean Air report – by Global Black Maternal Health.
Air pollution is the largest environmental risk to public health and children are especially vulnerable – a journal article by the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Children have a right to clean air, and we must fight for it to become a reality – a journal article by the UK Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Impact of Air Pollution on Child Health in India and the Way Forward – a journal article by the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD).
Every breath we take: The lifelong impact of air pollution – a report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Danger in the air: how air pollution can affect brain development in young children – a report by UNICEF.
Heart and respiratory health
World Heart Report 2024: Clearing the Air to Address Pollution’s Cardiovascular Health Crisis – a report by the World Heart Federation.
Air Quality and Health – a report by the European Respiratory Society.
Clean air, smart cities, healthy hearts: action on air pollution for cardiovascular health – a policy brief by the World Heart Federation.