Abstract
In 2013, a survey on air quality (AQ) was conducted in Wuhan, China. The aim was to investigate public awareness of air pollution, and its epidemiological effect. This survey targeted both suburban and central city regions of Wuhan city, between August and December of 2013, where it engaged 1225 participants. Approximately 65% perceived AQ in Wuhan to be “bad”. Over 95% recognized a causal association between air pollution and human health. About 65% were unaware of any action taken by the government to mitigate the air pollution situation. 84% indicated that the government should shut down highly polluting enterprises, while 95% expressed willingness to reduce private use of vehicles if required. The results demonstrate that the citizens of Wuhan are concerned about air pollution issues, and agree that improving AQ is the obligation of all citizens. Further, they called for concrete actions to improve AQ. The survey emphasized the need for better education and more activities to raise environmental awareness. The innovative aspects of this survey were the exploration of participants’ perceptions of AQ issues and the survey results may influence local government to impose stricter regulations, and to develop more effective programs involving citizens.
Highlights
Worldwide, air pollution represents the greatest environmental risk to human health
The results demonstrate that the citizens of Wuhan are concerned about air pollution issues, and agree that improving air quality (AQ) is the obligation of all citizens
We provided two methods to access the questionnaires: 1) Online: In order to facilitate participants to answer the questions, online access to the questionnaire was provided through the web-based project portal; 2) Hard-copy: Printed copies were directly distributed on the street and in the districts of those who preferred to respond to the questionnaire on paper
Summary
Air pollution represents the greatest environmental risk to human health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 11% of deaths were caused by air pollution around world in 2012 [1]. In order to provide cost-effective control measures to improve air quality (AQ), China has sought inspiration and support from European legislation and policy experiences when designing its environmental policies, in order to benefit from foreign experience, proven methodologies and state-of-the-art equipment One of these proven tests was the EU-China Environmental Governance Programme (EU-China EGP) project, Hubei-AQ.info (Hubei AQ information and early warning system), launched in 2012 [8]. It is important to recognize how local residents perceive and understand air pollution and its potential impact on human health For this reason, a questionnaire was designed and distributed amongst a representative number of the inhabitants of Wuhan in order to determine their level of understanding of AQ information, and the relation between AQ and health.
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