Health impacts of pollution

On 2 March 2018, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) for England published her annual report for 2017 which this year presents evidence and debate around:

• pollution caused by healthcare
• pollution and health inequalities
• new pollution issues
• measurement and communication of risks

The CMO’s report also makes recommendations to government, the NHS, Public Health England (PHE) and other agencies for action to improve the health system’s response to all types of pollution.

The report also considers:

• changes needed to better understand emerging threats
• the steps needed to bring together sources of information to give public health professionals a better idea of how to improve the health of people at a local level