21 July 2022 – The Regional Centre for Environmental Health Action (CEHA), in collaboration with the WHO country office in Kuwait and the Ministry of Health of Kuwait, organized a 3-day workshop from 3 to 5 July to train national air quality and health experts on health risk assessment of air pollution using WHO AirQ+ Software. The workshop was attended by 28 experts from the Ministry of Health, environmental public authority and the Kuwait Institute of Scientific Research.
Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health. By reducing air pollution levels, countries can reduce the burden of disease from stroke, ischaemic heart disease, lung cancer, and both chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma.
The workshop objectives were framed around with the "Regional framework for addressing air pollution and health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2017–2022" including:
- providinge the latest evidence on linkages between air pollution and health outcomes;
- explaining basics of health impact assessment of several air pollutants;
- providing hands-on training on the estimation of long- and short-term exposure to PM10, PM2.5 and NO2 using AirQ+ ver. 2.1.1; and,
- discussing the need to establish and update national ambient air quality standards in line with WHO air quality guidelines (2021) and its interim targets.
This workshop provided a space for national professionals to discuss and propose applicable sustainable solutions to reduce the anthropogenic air pollution levels and its health impacts, as well as sustainable solutions for dust storms.
Training materials and summary report are available upon request from:
Related links
WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines 2021
AirQ+: software tool for health risk assessment of air pollution
