Mobilizing hospitals to monitor air pollution and communicate the health impacts: The Chennai pilot
By Shweta Narayan
In 2017 one of Health Care Without Harm’s partner organizations in India initiated an innovative pilot to work with a local hospital to install low-cost air pollution monitors and engage its leaders and staff in the public discourse on air pollution.
The effort, led by our partner, Healthy Energy Initiative India (HEI--a project of Community Environmental Monitoring), was successful by a number of measures. It not only educated staff, patients, and the public on the health impacts of air pollution, but also engaged hospitals and health professionals in the debate on the health impacts of energy choices and the need to transition to clean, renewable energy.
Health Care Without Harm is now working with HEI India and our other core partner in India, the Public Health Foundation of India/Centre for Chronic Disease Control, to adapt and scale this model in at least 15 cities in India and in other countries including South Korea, the Philippines, South Africa, and the United States. The following is our Health Energy Initiative India team leader’s account of the Chennai Pilot.
