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      Development of Ahmedabad’s Air Information and Response (AIR) Plan to Protect Public Health

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          Abstract

          Indian cities struggle with some of the highest ambient air pollution levels in the world. While national efforts are building momentum towards concerted action to reduce air pollution, individual cities are taking action on this challenge to protect communities from the many health problems caused by this harmful environmental exposure. In 2017, the city of Ahmedabad launched a regional air pollution monitoring and risk communication project, the Air Information and Response (AIR) Plan. The centerpiece of the plan is an air quality index developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology’s System for Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research program that summarizes information from 10 new continuous air pollution monitoring stations in the region, each reporting data that can help people avoid harmful exposures and inform policy strategies to achieve cleaner air. This paper focuses on the motivation, development, and implementation of Ahmedabad’s AIR Plan. The project is discussed in terms of its collaborative roots, public health purpose in addressing the grave threat of air pollution (particularly to vulnerable groups), technical aspects in deploying air monitoring technology, and broader goals for the dissemination of an air quality index linked to specific health messages and suggested actions to reduce harmful exposures. The city of Ahmedabad is among the first cities in India where city leaders, state government, and civil society are proactively working together to address the country’s air pollution challenge with a focus on public health. The lessons learned from the development of the AIR Plan serve as a template for other cities aiming to address the heavy burden of air pollution on public health. Effective working relationships are vital since they form the foundation for long-term success and useful knowledge sharing beyond a single city.

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            Exposure to fine-particulate air pollution has been associated with increased morbidity and mortality, suggesting that sustained reductions in pollution exposure should result in improved life expectancy. This study directly evaluated the changes in life expectancy associated with differential changes in fine particulate air pollution that occurred in the United States during the 1980s and 1990s. We compiled data on life expectancy, socioeconomic status, and demographic characteristics for 211 county units in the 51 U.S. metropolitan areas with matching data on fine-particulate air pollution for the late 1970s and early 1980s and the late 1990s and early 2000s. Regression models were used to estimate the association between reductions in pollution and changes in life expectancy, with adjustment for changes in socioeconomic and demographic variables and in proxy indicators for the prevalence of cigarette smoking. A decrease of 10 microg per cubic meter in the concentration of fine particulate matter was associated with an estimated increase in mean (+/-SE) life expectancy of 0.61+/-0.20 year (P=0.004). The estimated effect of reduced exposure to pollution on life expectancy was not highly sensitive to adjustment for changes in socioeconomic, demographic, or proxy variables for the prevalence of smoking or to the restriction of observations to relatively large counties. Reductions in air pollution accounted for as much as 15% of the overall increase in life expectancy in the study areas. A reduction in exposure to ambient fine-particulate air pollution contributed to significant and measurable improvements in life expectancy in the United States. 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                Int J Environ Res Public Health
                ijerph
                International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
                MDPI
                1661-7827
                1660-4601
                10 July 2018
                July 2018
                : 15
                : 7
                : 1460
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), New York, NY 10011, USA; kknowlton@ 123456nrdc.org (K.K.); ssarkar@ 123456nrdc.org (S.S.); ajaiswal@ 123456nrdc.org (A.J.)
                [2 ]Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA
                [3 ]Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPH-G), Gandhinagar 382042, India; psganguly@ 123456iiphg.org (P.S.G.); shyampingle@ 123456iiphg.org (S.P.); priyadutta@ 123456iiphg.org (P.D.); sathishlm@ 123456iiphg.org (S.L.M.); abhiyant.tiwari@ 123456gmail.com (A.T.); dmavalankar@ 123456iiphg.org (D.M.)
                [4 ]Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Cambridge, MA 02115, USA
                [5 ]Health Department, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), Ahmedabad 380001, India; bhavinsolanki@ 123456ahmedabadcity.gov.in (B.S.); amc.epidemic@ 123456gmail.com (C.S.)
                [6 ]Apollo Hospital, Ahmedabad 382428, India
                [7 ]Ashrai Associates and Sparsh Chest Diseases Center, Ahmedabad 380009, India; raval_g@ 123456yahoo.com
                [8 ]L.G. Hospital, AMC MET Medical College, Ahmedabad 380008, India; kakkad2008@ 123456gmail.com
                [9 ]Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune 411008, India; beig@ 123456tropmet.res.in (G.B.); neha@ 123456tropmet.res.in (N.P.)
                Author notes
                [* ]Correspondence: vlimaye@ 123456nrdc.org ; Tel.: +1-212-727-4683; Fax: +1-212-727-1773
                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3118-6912
                Article
                ijerph-15-01460
                10.3390/ijerph15071460
                6068810
                29996566
                0436981c-35ca-45cd-92a0-6a81a5657822
                © 2018 by the authors.

                Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

                History
                : 31 May 2018
                : 05 July 2018
                Categories
                Article

                Public health
                air pollution,exposure mitigation,climate change,india,vulnerability,urban public health,risk communication,community engagement,environmental education,environmental forecasting

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