This month our VP for Wales, Hilary Williams, blogs about our new RCP report on air quality and Med 25.
A breath of fresh air
This month we launched our new report, A breath of fresh air: responding to the health challenges of modern air pollution, which brings together significant new knowledge from the last decade and shows that air pollution affects health much more widely than just respiratory disease.
Mortality and morbidity impacts
Air pollution is linked to around 30,000 UK deaths in 2025. Between 1,000–1,400 deaths in Wales each year are attributable to air pollution. In addition to the mortality impacts, air pollution worsens people’s health – estimates on the morbidity impacts of air pollution have found that in the UK in 2019 there were 3,010 new cases of lung cancer in adults and 9,750 new cases of asthma in children attributable to air pollution. In addition, there is growing evidence of the wider impact of air pollution including risks of dementia and cardiovascular disease. As ever, the burden falls disproportionately on the most vulnerable.
Indoor air is a growing concern, with people spending the majority of their time indoors in the UK. Poor ventilation; damp and mould; and emissions from domestic heating, gas cooking and household products all contribute to exposure.
The report also looks at the role of health professionals – we as doctors have a role in talking to patients about air pollution where it affects their health. The JRCPTB has asked the specialist advisory committees for internal and general internal medicine, acute internal medicine and respiratory medicine to consider air pollution in some form in the next curricula review.
On a positive note, changes in ambient air pollution can improve health rapidly, with published evidence that changes in air quality during the COVID lockdowns led to rapid reduction in risk of being admitted with asthma.
Our calls to Welsh government
We are making air quality one of our key priorities going into the Senedd election. We want the next government in Wales to recognise air pollution as a key public health issue and take increasingly ambitious action to reduce people’s short- and long-term exposure to outdoor and indoor air pollution.
Med 25 and developing the evidence base for prevention
It was great to catch up with members at Med 25, and Professor Chris Whitty, excellent as ever, was clear that our campaigning, many of which has involved our members in Wales, had been impactful and a strong driver for governments to improve our nations’ health. A recent poll found that 81% of the public were deeply sceptical about the extent to which tobacco, alcohol and unhealthy foods and putting profit above public health.
But behaviour change is hard, and I have been really interested to see a developing evidence base that community-based interventions can increase physical activity. The NEJM has published a flagship study providing evidence that a 3-year structured exercise programme significantly prolongs survival post-colorectal cancer surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy – this is particularly rewarding as we recruited local patients from ABUHB. In addition, the team from ‘Born in Bradford’ who are speaking at the RCP Cardiff update 2025 have evidence that a structured intervention helps get school age kids active over a sustained time period – publication to follow.
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Dr Hilary Williams
Vice president for Wales
