26 September 2022 – In line with the regional fFramework for addressing air pollution and health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2017–2022. The Climate Change, Health, and Environment programme of the Department of Healthier Populations, in collaboration with the WHO’s country office in Saudi Arabia and the Public Health Authority (Weqaya) held a 3-day national training workshop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 6-8 September, on health impact assessment of air pollution using WHO Air Q+ software.
The workshop succeeded in providing:
proper understanding of the health impacts of air pollution and its estimation techniques, particularly Air Q+ software;
present the recently updated WHO Air Quality Guidelines 2021 and the WHO database on air quality and health 2022;
hands-on training on WHO Air Q+ Software for estimating the number of deaths (all natural causes) attributable to long- and short-term exposures to air pollution, mainly PM and NO2; and
discuss sustainable solutions to reduce air pollution levels at the national and sub-national levels.
The training workshop was attended by more than 30 national experts from several affiliations, including Public Health Authority, Ministry of Health, National Center for Environmental Compliance, Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture, Saudi standards metrology and quality organization, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Umm Al-Qura University, Development of Madinah Authority, Royal commission hospital – Jubail, Alfaisal University, General Authority for Statistics, Princess Nourah University, Royal Commission for Jubail & Yanbu, and King Saud University
Related links
WHO Global Air Quality Guidelines 2021
WHO database on air quality and health, 2022
AirQ+: software tool for health risk assessment of air pollution
