Parents are calling for a phase-out of diesel engines, petrol-hungry SUVs, and domestic wood burning as new figures point to a ‘preventable crisis’.
Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the campaign group Mums For Lungs has revealed the extent of London’s air quality problem.
Over a 12 month period of time, NHS Trusts across the UK capital recorded 88,000 A&E admissions and 26,000 hospital ward admissions for paediatric respiratory problems.
North Middlesex University Hospital in Edmonton, Hillingdon Hospital, University Hospital Lewisham, Barnet Hospital, and Guys’ and St Thomas’ Hospital were the hardest hit in the city.
‘Every year we see thousands of children in London coming to A&E with severe breathing difficulties, many of whom will have had their symptoms exacerbated by toxic air pollution,’ said Dr Katie Knight, a Paediatric Emergency Medicine Consultant, based in Haringey, north London. ‘With the NHS 10 Year Plan having just been published, the time to act is now to avoid a crisis in our health system that is entirely preventable.’
According to the Royal College of Physicians, the UK now has the highest prevalence of asthma in Europe, and estimates currently place the annual premature death toll from air pollution to be around 30,000. Road traffic remains the biggest contributor to pollution levels, with nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5 — fine particulate matter — particularly dangerous to human health.
‘These figures are heartbreaking and should finally shame our political leaders into action,’ said Jemima Hartshorn, founder and Director of Mums for Lungs, who lives in Southwark. ‘Children in London are suffering because of avoidable pollution – too many polluting diesel cars and unnecessary domestic wood burning are making our children sick, choke, cough and struggle for their breath, putting them into hospital.
‘Across England, children’s health, their family lives, their schooling and their parents’ work lives are compromised because another Government is refusing to clean up our air – children are paying with their lungs and it’s costing our economy £500M a week too,’ she continued.
Image: Michael Fousert / Unsplash
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