In collaboration with the Polish Supreme Medical Chamber and the Polish Society of Allergology, HEAL Poland organized a series of virtual trainings for over 300 doctors. These trainings delved into critical health topics, including the impacts of air and transport pollution, health and climate change, and the urban burden of disease. The aim was to enhance doctors' awareness and understanding of the environmental and climate-related threats to health in Poland.
Today, HEAL, with seven more health organisations, has sent a letter to EU environment ministers about the EU’s clean air standards (Ambient Air Quality Directives – AAQD).
The organisations, representing the European health sector, including medical doctors, healthcare professionals, patient organisations and health insurance funds, urge the ministers to step up on the Commission’s proposal, to reduce ill-health and health costs swiftly and significantly.
The letter states:
In the coming weeks you will be deciding on the Council General Approach on the AAQD revision. To ensure that people across Europe breathe clean air for a healthy life, health groups urge you to follow concerns from people across the EU and science, and go beyond the ambition of the September 2023 European Parliament’s position. This includes especially adopting a date of 2030 for ensuring the full alignment of EU clean air standards with the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO), in view of the urgency to swiftly and significantly reduce the health burden of air pollution.
In addition, we urge you to follow up on the July 2023 adoption of the “Budapest Declaration” of the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health and show your commitment in protecting people’s health and saving on health economic cost by tightening the flexibilities and derogations foreseen in the draft law (especially article 18).
Read the full letter here