RES Foundation participated at the joint side-event of the Seventh Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, “Digital tools, data, and research in action for health risk reduction and better air quality management”, organized in the period of 5-7 July in Budapest by Hungarian National Public Health Center and UNECE, in cooperation with WHO, UNEP and EEA.
Programme director of RES Foundation, Aleksandar Macura was one of three participants in the panel discussion on the topic. Air pollution is responsible for 7 million premature deaths every year. Vulnerable groups, such as children, are particularly exposed to the negative impacts of air pollution. To formulate and implement more effective clean air policies and measures for better air quality and subsequent health risk reduction, digital tools, data and concrete case studies are needed.
This parallel event aimed to showcase the importance of research and data for effective air quality management, country case studies and digital tools available to support clean air policymaking. Speakers from Member States shared experiences on the use of research and different tools to improve their data and how these are used in identifying and prioritizing sources and sectors for action on clean air, and in raising public awareness on the health risks of air pollution. A specific focus was on research the Hungarian Public Health Center has conducted on the health impacts of indoor air pollution on children.