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SIXTY-EIGHTH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
Agenda item 14.6 26 May 2015
Health and the Environment:
Addressing the health impact of air pollution
Draft resolution proposed by the delegations of Albania, Chile,Colombia, France, Germany, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay and Zambia
The Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on Health and the environment: addressing the health impact of air
pollution, (PP0) Reaffirming our commitment to the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference “The
future we want”, in which all States Members of the United Nations committed to promoting
sustainable development policies that support healthy air quality in the context of sustainable cities
and human settlements, and recognized that reducing air pollution leads to positive effects on health;
1 (PP1) Noting with deep concern that indoor and outdoor air pollution are both among the
leading avoidable causes of disease and death globally, and the world’s largest single environmental
health risk;2 (PP2) Acknowledging that 4.3 million deaths occur each year from exposure to household
(indoor) air pollution and that 3.7 million deaths each year are attributable to ambient (outdoor) air
pollution, at a high cost to societies;3 (PP3) Aware that exposure to air pollutants, including fine particulate matter, is a leading risk factor for noncommunicable diseases in adults, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and cancer, and poses a considerable health threat to current and future generations;
1 UNEA resolution 1/7, PP6.
2 Global Health Observatory http://www.who.int/gho/phe/en/ (accessed 18 March 2015).
3 WHO. Burden of disease from ambient air pollution for 2012. http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/
databases/AAP_BoD_results_March2014.pdf?ua=1 (accessed 1 December 2014).
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
2
(PP4) Concerned that half of the deaths due to acute lower respiratory infections, including
pneumonia in children aged less than five years, may be attributed to household air pollution, making
it a leading risk factor for childhood mortality;
(PP5) Further concerned that air pollution, including fine particulate matter, is classified as a
cause of lung cancer by WHO’s International Agency on Research for Cancer;
1
(PP6)Aware that both short- and long-term exposure to air pollution has a negative impact on
public health, with a much greater impact resulting from long-term exposure and exposure at high
levels, causing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases, including
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and also that for many pollutants, such as particles,
long-term exposure even at low levels (below WHO air quality guidelines proposed levels) could
result in some adverse health effects;
(PP7) Noting the strong significance of air pollution and its health effects for the objectives and
targets contained in the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of
Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020, as well as the significance of the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, in particular Article 8 and Guidelines related to the protection from
exposure to tobacco smoke, as applicable to the parties of the Convention;
(PP8)Noting that air pollution is a cause of global health inequities, affecting in particular
women, children and old persons, as well as low-income populations who are often exposed to high
levels of ambient air pollution, or in homes that have no other choice than to be exposed to air
pollution from cooking, heating and, and that improving air quality is among the measures with the
greatest potential impact on health equity;
2
(PP9) Cognizant that most air pollutants are emitted as a result of the human activities identified
as sources of air pollution3 in the WHO guidelines on ambient and indoor air pollution, and that there
are also naturally occurring phenomena that negatively affect air quality4 and noting that there is a
significant interrelation between outdoor and indoor air quality;
(PP9 bis) Aware that promoting energy efficiency and expanding the use of clean and renewable
energy can have co-benefits for health and sustainable development and stressing that the affordability
of this energy will help maximize these opportunities;
1 IARC Monographs Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans on the following issues:
• Outdoor Air Pollution (2013, Volume 109);
• Diesel and gasoline exhausts and some nitroarenes (2012, Volume 105);
• Household use of solid fuels and high-temperature frying (2010, Volume 95);
• Indoor emissions from household combustion of coal (2012, Volume 100E);
• Tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (2004, Volume 83).
2 WHO Burden of Disease, Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution, 2014.
3 WHO Guidelines for Air Quality: Global Update 2005; WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel
combustion; WHO Guidelines for indoor air quality: select pollutants; WHO guidelines for indoor air quality:
Dampness and Mould.
4 These include, inter alia, Radon, [a carcinogenic], dust- and sandstorms, volcanic eruptions and forest fires.
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
3
(PP9 ter) Underscoring that the root causes of air pollution and its adverse impacts are
predominantly socioeconomic in nature and cognizant of the need to address the social determinants of
health related to development in urban and rural settings, including poverty eradication, as an
indispensable element for sustainable development and for the reduction of the health impact of air
pollution;
(PP9 cinc) Emphasizing the importance of promotion, transfer and diffusion of environmentally
sound technologies, particularly to developing countries, to address the health impact of air pollution;
(PP10) Acknowledging recent global efforts to promote air quality, in particular the
2014 United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on air quality, as well as the many national
and regional initiatives to mitigate the health impacts of indoor and outdoor air pollution, and noting
that regional and sub-regional co-operation frameworks provide good opportunities to address air
quality issues according to the specific circumstances of each region;
(PP11) Recognizing that in order to contribute to national policy choices that protect health and
reduce health inequities, the health sector will need to engage in cross-sectoral approaches to health,
including adopting a health-in-all policies approach;
1
(PP12) Noting that WHO’s air quality guidelines for both ambient air quality2 (2005) and
indoor air quality3 (2014) provide guidance and recommendations for clean air that protect human
health and recognizing that these need to be supported by activities, such as the promotion and
facilitation of implementation;
(PP13) Acknowledging that while many of the most important and cost-effective actions against
outdoor and indoor air pollution require the involvement and leadership of national governments as
well as regional and local authorities, cities are both particularly affected by the consequences of air
pollution and well-placed to promote healthy city activities to reduce air pollution and its associated
health impacts, and can develop good practices, complement and implement national measures;
(PP14 bis) Acknowledging that mobilizing national and, as appropriate, international resources
is important for re-tooling relevant infrastructure which contributes to air pollution reduction is an
integral element of global sustainable development, and that air pollution-related health impacts can be
a health-relevant indicator for sustainable development policies;
1 Taking into account the context of federated states.
2 WHO air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide – WHO Air Quality
Guidelines – Global Update 2005: summary of risk assessment. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006
(document WHO/SDE/PHE/OEH/06.02).
3 WHO indoor air quality guidelines: household fuel combustion; 2014;
(http://www.who.int/indoorair/guidelines/hhfc/en/).
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
4
(PP15) Aware that promoting air quality is a priority to protect health and provide co-benefits
for the climate, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and food security;
1
(PP15 bis) Acknowledging also the complexity between improving air quality and reducing
emissions of warming climate-altering pollutants, and that there can be meaningful opportunities to
achieve co-benefits resulting from these actions;
(PP15 bis bis) Underlining that higher temperatures, heatwaves, dust- and sandstorms, volcanic
eruptions and forest fires can also exacerbate the impact of anthropogenic air pollution on health,
(OP1) URGES Member States2 to:
(OP1.1) Redouble their efforts to identify, address and prevent the health impacts of air
pollution, by developing and strengthening, as appropriate, multisectoral cooperation on the
international, regional and national levels, and through targeted, multisectoral measures in
accordance with national priorities;
(OP1.2) Enable health systems, including health protection authorities, to take a leading
role in raising awareness in the public and among all stakeholders of the impacts of air pollution
on health and opportunities to reduce or avoid exposure, including by guiding preventive
measures to help reduce these health effects, to interact effectively with the relevant sectors and
other relevant public and private stakeholders to inform about sustainable solutions, and to
ensure that health concerns are integrated into relevant national, regional and local policy,
decision-making and evaluation processes, including public health prevention, preparedness and
response measures, as well as health system strengthening;
(OP1.3) Facilitate relevant research, including developing and utilizing databases on
morbidity and mortality; health impact assessment; the use and costs of health care services and
the societal costs associated with ill health; supporting identification of research priorities and
strategies; engaging with academia to address knowledge gaps; and supporting the
strengthening of national research institutions and international cooperation in research to
identify and implement sustainable solutions;
(OP1.4) Contribute to an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air
pollution in accordance with the national context including by collecting, and utilizing data
relevant to the health outcomes of air quality, contributing to the development of normative
standards, dissemination of good practices and lessons from implementation and working
towards harmonization of health-related indicators which could be used by decision makers;
(OP1.6) Improve the morbidity and mortality surveillance for all illnesses related to air
pollution, and optimize the linkage with monitoring systems of air pollutants;
1 United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 1/7 (http://www.unep.org/unea/download.asp?ID=5171 accessed
20 March 2015). Smith, K.R., A. Woodward, et al, 2014: Human health: impacts, adaptation, and co-benefits. In: Climate
Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 709–754.
2 And, where applicable, regional economic integration organizations.
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
5
(OP1.7) Take into account the WHO Air Quality Guidelines and WHO Indoor Air Quality
Guidelines and other relevant information in the development of a multisectoral national
response to air pollution and carry out measures supporting the aims of those guidelines;
(OP1.8) Encourage and promote measures that will lead to meaningful progress in reducing
levels of indoor air pollution such as clean cooking, heating and lighting practices and efficient
energy use;
(OP1.9) Take effective steps, to address and to minimize as far as possible air pollution
specifically associated with health care activities, including by implementing, as appropriate,
relevant WHO guidelines;
(OP1.10) Develop policy dialogue, collaboration and information sharing between different
sectors to facilitate a coordinated, multisectoral basis for future participation in regional and
global processes to address the impact of air pollution on health;
(OP1.10 bis) Strengthen international cooperation to address health impacts of air pollution,
including through facilitating transfer of expertise, technologies and scientific data in the field
of air pollution, as well as exchanging good practices;
(OP 1.10 ter) Identify, at the national level, actions by the health sector that reduce health
inequities related to air pollution and work closely with the communities at risk who can gain
the most from effective equitable and sustained actions, so as to facilitate the full realization of
the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
(OP1.11) Meet the commitments made at the 2011 UN High level meeting on noncommunicable
diseases and to use, as appropriate, the road map and policy options contained in
the WHO global action plan for noncommunicable diseases;
(OP1.11 bis) Meet the obligations of the WHO FCTC, if the Member State is a Party to this treaty;
(OP1.13) Collaborate with regional and international organizations in developing
partnerships to promote access to adequate technical and financial resources to improve air
quality;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(OP2.1) To significantly strengthen WHO’s capacities in the field of air pollution and
health in order to provide:
(a) Support and guidance for Member States in implementing the WHO Air Quality
Guidelines and WHO Indoor Air Quality Guidelines;
(a bis) Support and provide guidance for Parties of the WHO FCTC in implementing the
obligations under article 8 of the treaty and its guidelines, in coordination with the
Convention Secretariat;
(b) Enhanced technical support and guidance to Member States, including through
appropriate capacities in regional and country offices to support country activities;
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
6
(c) Further identification, development and regular updating of WHO air quality
guidelines and cost-benefit tools, including monitoring systems, to support effective and
efficient decision making;
(d) Enhanced technical capacity of WHO to collaborate, as appropriate, with relevant
international, regional and national stakeholders, to compile and analyse data on air
quality, with particular emphasis on health-related aspects of air quality;
(e) Assistance to Member States to increase awareness and communicate to the
general public and stakeholders, in particular communities at risk, about the effects of air
pollution and actions to reduce it;
(f) Dissemination of evidence-based best practices on effective indoor and ambient air
quality interventions and policies related to health;
(g) Enhanced ability of WHO to convene, guide and influence research strategies in
the field of air pollution and health, in conjunction with the WHO Global Health
Observatory;
(h) Appropriate advisory capacity and support tools to assist the health and other
sectors at all levels of government, especially the local level and in urban areas, taking
into account different sources of pollution in tackling air pollution and their health
effects;
(i) Appropriate advisory capacity and support tools at regional and subregional level
to help Member States address the health effects of air pollution and other challenges to
air quality with a cross-border impact, and to facilitate coordination among Member
States in this respect;
(j) To create, enhance and update, in cooperation with relevant UN agencies and
programmes a public information tool of WHO analysis, including policy and costefficiency
aspects, of specific and available clean air technologies to address the
prevention and control of air pollution, and its impacts on health;
(OP2.2) To exercise global health leadership and maximize synergies, while avoiding
duplication with relevant global efforts that promote health improvements related to air quality,
and air pollution reduction while continuing to work on other environmental challenges to
health through, among others, the implementation of the WHA Resolution 61.19 Climate
Change and Health;
(OP2.2 bis) To work with other United Nations partners, programmes and agencies, in
particular with reference to the UN Environment Assembly resolution on Air Quality;
(OP2.2 ter) To raise awareness of the public health risks of air pollution and the multiple
benefits of improved air quality, in particular in the context of the discussions on the post-2015
development agenda;
(OP2.2 quart) To continue to exercise and enhance the leading role of WHO in the Strategic
Approach to International Chemicals Management to foster the sound management of chemicals
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
7
and waste with the objective of minimizing and, where possible, preventing significant adverse
effects on health, including from air pollution;
(OP2.3) To strengthen, and where applicable, forge links with existing global health
initiatives that can benefit from air pollution reduction, including global efforts to reduce
noncommunicable diseases and improve children’s health;
1
(OP2.3 bis) To set aside adequate resources for the work in the Secretariat, in line with the
Programme budget 2014–2015 and Proposed programme budget 2016–2017 and the Twelfth
General Programme of Work 2014–2019;
(OP2.4) To report to the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly on the implementation of this
resolution and its progress in mitigating the health effects of air pollution; and other challenges
to air quality;
(OP2.5) To propose to the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly a road map for an enhanced
global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution.
= = =
1 Examples of such efforts are the WHO global action plan for noncommunicable diseases, Integrated Global Action
Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD), The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and the Every Woman Every Child Movement.
W.H.A. RESOLUTION ON AIR POLLUTION
| Tuesday, 9th of June 2015 |
 |
 |
Agenda item 14.6 26 May 2015
Health and the Environment:
Addressing the health impact of air pollution
Draft resolution proposed by the delegations of Albania, Chile,Colombia, France, Germany, Monaco, Norway, Panama, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United States of America, Uruguay and Zambia
The Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly,
Having considered the report on Health and the environment: addressing the health impact of air
pollution, (PP0) Reaffirming our commitment to the outcome document of the Rio+20 Conference “The
future we want”, in which all States Members of the United Nations committed to promoting
sustainable development policies that support healthy air quality in the context of sustainable cities
and human settlements, and recognized that reducing air pollution leads to positive effects on health;
1 (PP1) Noting with deep concern that indoor and outdoor air pollution are both among the
leading avoidable causes of disease and death globally, and the world’s largest single environmental
health risk;2 (PP2) Acknowledging that 4.3 million deaths occur each year from exposure to household
(indoor) air pollution and that 3.7 million deaths each year are attributable to ambient (outdoor) air
pollution, at a high cost to societies;3 (PP3) Aware that exposure to air pollutants, including fine particulate matter, is a leading risk factor for noncommunicable diseases in adults, including ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and cancer, and poses a considerable health threat to current and future generations;
1 UNEA resolution 1/7, PP6.
2 Global Health Observatory http://www.who.int/gho/phe/en/ (accessed 18 March 2015).
3 WHO. Burden of disease from ambient air pollution for 2012. http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/
databases/AAP_BoD_results_March2014.pdf?ua=1 (accessed 1 December 2014).
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
2
(PP4) Concerned that half of the deaths due to acute lower respiratory infections, including
pneumonia in children aged less than five years, may be attributed to household air pollution, making
it a leading risk factor for childhood mortality;
(PP5) Further concerned that air pollution, including fine particulate matter, is classified as a
cause of lung cancer by WHO’s International Agency on Research for Cancer;
1
(PP6)Aware that both short- and long-term exposure to air pollution has a negative impact on
public health, with a much greater impact resulting from long-term exposure and exposure at high
levels, causing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases, including
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and also that for many pollutants, such as particles,
long-term exposure even at low levels (below WHO air quality guidelines proposed levels) could
result in some adverse health effects;
(PP7) Noting the strong significance of air pollution and its health effects for the objectives and
targets contained in the WHO Global Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of
Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020, as well as the significance of the WHO Framework
Convention on Tobacco Control, in particular Article 8 and Guidelines related to the protection from
exposure to tobacco smoke, as applicable to the parties of the Convention;
(PP8)Noting that air pollution is a cause of global health inequities, affecting in particular
women, children and old persons, as well as low-income populations who are often exposed to high
levels of ambient air pollution, or in homes that have no other choice than to be exposed to air
pollution from cooking, heating and, and that improving air quality is among the measures with the
greatest potential impact on health equity;
2
(PP9) Cognizant that most air pollutants are emitted as a result of the human activities identified
as sources of air pollution3 in the WHO guidelines on ambient and indoor air pollution, and that there
are also naturally occurring phenomena that negatively affect air quality4 and noting that there is a
significant interrelation between outdoor and indoor air quality;
(PP9 bis) Aware that promoting energy efficiency and expanding the use of clean and renewable
energy can have co-benefits for health and sustainable development and stressing that the affordability
of this energy will help maximize these opportunities;
1 IARC Monographs Working Group on the Evaluation of Carcinogenic Risks to Humans on the following issues:
• Outdoor Air Pollution (2013, Volume 109);
• Diesel and gasoline exhausts and some nitroarenes (2012, Volume 105);
• Household use of solid fuels and high-temperature frying (2010, Volume 95);
• Indoor emissions from household combustion of coal (2012, Volume 100E);
• Tobacco smoke and involuntary smoking (2004, Volume 83).
2 WHO Burden of Disease, Indoor and Outdoor Air Pollution, 2014.
3 WHO Guidelines for Air Quality: Global Update 2005; WHO guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel
combustion; WHO Guidelines for indoor air quality: select pollutants; WHO guidelines for indoor air quality:
Dampness and Mould.
4 These include, inter alia, Radon, [a carcinogenic], dust- and sandstorms, volcanic eruptions and forest fires.
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
3
(PP9 ter) Underscoring that the root causes of air pollution and its adverse impacts are
predominantly socioeconomic in nature and cognizant of the need to address the social determinants of
health related to development in urban and rural settings, including poverty eradication, as an
indispensable element for sustainable development and for the reduction of the health impact of air
pollution;
(PP9 cinc) Emphasizing the importance of promotion, transfer and diffusion of environmentally
sound technologies, particularly to developing countries, to address the health impact of air pollution;
(PP10) Acknowledging recent global efforts to promote air quality, in particular the
2014 United Nations Environment Assembly resolution on air quality, as well as the many national
and regional initiatives to mitigate the health impacts of indoor and outdoor air pollution, and noting
that regional and sub-regional co-operation frameworks provide good opportunities to address air
quality issues according to the specific circumstances of each region;
(PP11) Recognizing that in order to contribute to national policy choices that protect health and
reduce health inequities, the health sector will need to engage in cross-sectoral approaches to health,
including adopting a health-in-all policies approach;
1
(PP12) Noting that WHO’s air quality guidelines for both ambient air quality2 (2005) and
indoor air quality3 (2014) provide guidance and recommendations for clean air that protect human
health and recognizing that these need to be supported by activities, such as the promotion and
facilitation of implementation;
(PP13) Acknowledging that while many of the most important and cost-effective actions against
outdoor and indoor air pollution require the involvement and leadership of national governments as
well as regional and local authorities, cities are both particularly affected by the consequences of air
pollution and well-placed to promote healthy city activities to reduce air pollution and its associated
health impacts, and can develop good practices, complement and implement national measures;
(PP14 bis) Acknowledging that mobilizing national and, as appropriate, international resources
is important for re-tooling relevant infrastructure which contributes to air pollution reduction is an
integral element of global sustainable development, and that air pollution-related health impacts can be
a health-relevant indicator for sustainable development policies;
1 Taking into account the context of federated states.
2 WHO air quality guidelines for particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide – WHO Air Quality
Guidelines – Global Update 2005: summary of risk assessment. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2006
(document WHO/SDE/PHE/OEH/06.02).
3 WHO indoor air quality guidelines: household fuel combustion; 2014;
(http://www.who.int/indoorair/guidelines/hhfc/en/).
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
4
(PP15) Aware that promoting air quality is a priority to protect health and provide co-benefits
for the climate, ecosystem services, biodiversity, and food security;
1
(PP15 bis) Acknowledging also the complexity between improving air quality and reducing
emissions of warming climate-altering pollutants, and that there can be meaningful opportunities to
achieve co-benefits resulting from these actions;
(PP15 bis bis) Underlining that higher temperatures, heatwaves, dust- and sandstorms, volcanic
eruptions and forest fires can also exacerbate the impact of anthropogenic air pollution on health,
(OP1) URGES Member States2 to:
(OP1.1) Redouble their efforts to identify, address and prevent the health impacts of air
pollution, by developing and strengthening, as appropriate, multisectoral cooperation on the
international, regional and national levels, and through targeted, multisectoral measures in
accordance with national priorities;
(OP1.2) Enable health systems, including health protection authorities, to take a leading
role in raising awareness in the public and among all stakeholders of the impacts of air pollution
on health and opportunities to reduce or avoid exposure, including by guiding preventive
measures to help reduce these health effects, to interact effectively with the relevant sectors and
other relevant public and private stakeholders to inform about sustainable solutions, and to
ensure that health concerns are integrated into relevant national, regional and local policy,
decision-making and evaluation processes, including public health prevention, preparedness and
response measures, as well as health system strengthening;
(OP1.3) Facilitate relevant research, including developing and utilizing databases on
morbidity and mortality; health impact assessment; the use and costs of health care services and
the societal costs associated with ill health; supporting identification of research priorities and
strategies; engaging with academia to address knowledge gaps; and supporting the
strengthening of national research institutions and international cooperation in research to
identify and implement sustainable solutions;
(OP1.4) Contribute to an enhanced global response to the adverse health effects of air
pollution in accordance with the national context including by collecting, and utilizing data
relevant to the health outcomes of air quality, contributing to the development of normative
standards, dissemination of good practices and lessons from implementation and working
towards harmonization of health-related indicators which could be used by decision makers;
(OP1.6) Improve the morbidity and mortality surveillance for all illnesses related to air
pollution, and optimize the linkage with monitoring systems of air pollutants;
1 United Nations Environment Assembly Resolution 1/7 (http://www.unep.org/unea/download.asp?ID=5171 accessed
20 March 2015). Smith, K.R., A. Woodward, et al, 2014: Human health: impacts, adaptation, and co-benefits. In: Climate
Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working
Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press,
Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 709–754.
2 And, where applicable, regional economic integration organizations.
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
5
(OP1.7) Take into account the WHO Air Quality Guidelines and WHO Indoor Air Quality
Guidelines and other relevant information in the development of a multisectoral national
response to air pollution and carry out measures supporting the aims of those guidelines;
(OP1.8) Encourage and promote measures that will lead to meaningful progress in reducing
levels of indoor air pollution such as clean cooking, heating and lighting practices and efficient
energy use;
(OP1.9) Take effective steps, to address and to minimize as far as possible air pollution
specifically associated with health care activities, including by implementing, as appropriate,
relevant WHO guidelines;
(OP1.10) Develop policy dialogue, collaboration and information sharing between different
sectors to facilitate a coordinated, multisectoral basis for future participation in regional and
global processes to address the impact of air pollution on health;
(OP1.10 bis) Strengthen international cooperation to address health impacts of air pollution,
including through facilitating transfer of expertise, technologies and scientific data in the field
of air pollution, as well as exchanging good practices;
(OP 1.10 ter) Identify, at the national level, actions by the health sector that reduce health
inequities related to air pollution and work closely with the communities at risk who can gain
the most from effective equitable and sustained actions, so as to facilitate the full realization of
the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
(OP1.11) Meet the commitments made at the 2011 UN High level meeting on noncommunicable
diseases and to use, as appropriate, the road map and policy options contained in
the WHO global action plan for noncommunicable diseases;
(OP1.11 bis) Meet the obligations of the WHO FCTC, if the Member State is a Party to this treaty;
(OP1.13) Collaborate with regional and international organizations in developing
partnerships to promote access to adequate technical and financial resources to improve air
quality;
2. REQUESTS the Director-General:
(OP2.1) To significantly strengthen WHO’s capacities in the field of air pollution and
health in order to provide:
(a) Support and guidance for Member States in implementing the WHO Air Quality
Guidelines and WHO Indoor Air Quality Guidelines;
(a bis) Support and provide guidance for Parties of the WHO FCTC in implementing the
obligations under article 8 of the treaty and its guidelines, in coordination with the
Convention Secretariat;
(b) Enhanced technical support and guidance to Member States, including through
appropriate capacities in regional and country offices to support country activities;
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
6
(c) Further identification, development and regular updating of WHO air quality
guidelines and cost-benefit tools, including monitoring systems, to support effective and
efficient decision making;
(d) Enhanced technical capacity of WHO to collaborate, as appropriate, with relevant
international, regional and national stakeholders, to compile and analyse data on air
quality, with particular emphasis on health-related aspects of air quality;
(e) Assistance to Member States to increase awareness and communicate to the
general public and stakeholders, in particular communities at risk, about the effects of air
pollution and actions to reduce it;
(f) Dissemination of evidence-based best practices on effective indoor and ambient air
quality interventions and policies related to health;
(g) Enhanced ability of WHO to convene, guide and influence research strategies in
the field of air pollution and health, in conjunction with the WHO Global Health
Observatory;
(h) Appropriate advisory capacity and support tools to assist the health and other
sectors at all levels of government, especially the local level and in urban areas, taking
into account different sources of pollution in tackling air pollution and their health
effects;
(i) Appropriate advisory capacity and support tools at regional and subregional level
to help Member States address the health effects of air pollution and other challenges to
air quality with a cross-border impact, and to facilitate coordination among Member
States in this respect;
(j) To create, enhance and update, in cooperation with relevant UN agencies and
programmes a public information tool of WHO analysis, including policy and costefficiency
aspects, of specific and available clean air technologies to address the
prevention and control of air pollution, and its impacts on health;
(OP2.2) To exercise global health leadership and maximize synergies, while avoiding
duplication with relevant global efforts that promote health improvements related to air quality,
and air pollution reduction while continuing to work on other environmental challenges to
health through, among others, the implementation of the WHA Resolution 61.19 Climate
Change and Health;
(OP2.2 bis) To work with other United Nations partners, programmes and agencies, in
particular with reference to the UN Environment Assembly resolution on Air Quality;
(OP2.2 ter) To raise awareness of the public health risks of air pollution and the multiple
benefits of improved air quality, in particular in the context of the discussions on the post-2015
development agenda;
(OP2.2 quart) To continue to exercise and enhance the leading role of WHO in the Strategic
Approach to International Chemicals Management to foster the sound management of chemicals
A68/A/CONF./2 Rev.1
7
and waste with the objective of minimizing and, where possible, preventing significant adverse
effects on health, including from air pollution;
(OP2.3) To strengthen, and where applicable, forge links with existing global health
initiatives that can benefit from air pollution reduction, including global efforts to reduce
noncommunicable diseases and improve children’s health;
1
(OP2.3 bis) To set aside adequate resources for the work in the Secretariat, in line with the
Programme budget 2014–2015 and Proposed programme budget 2016–2017 and the Twelfth
General Programme of Work 2014–2019;
(OP2.4) To report to the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly on the implementation of this
resolution and its progress in mitigating the health effects of air pollution; and other challenges
to air quality;
(OP2.5) To propose to the Sixty-ninth World Health Assembly a road map for an enhanced
global response to the adverse health effects of air pollution.
= = =
1 Examples of such efforts are the WHO global action plan for noncommunicable diseases, Integrated Global Action
Plan for the Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea (GAPPD), The Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and the Every Woman Every Child Movement.
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