Doctors across the UK are warning that air pollution has become one of the country’s most serious but overlooked health emergencies. According to new research, over 500 people are dying prematurely each week due to exposure to harmful air, equating to around 30,000 preventable deaths every year. This revelation comes from a major report by the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, which outlines how toxic air is impacting people from all walks of life, often without them even realizing it.
The report states that 99% of the UK population is breathing air that exceeds safe pollution limits. Even at low levels, harmful particles in the air can penetrate deep into the body, damaging nearly every organ. Links have been established between air pollution and a wide range of health issues, including cancer, strokes, heart attacks, dementia, and asthma, especially in children. Doctors compare the scale of risk to that posed by smoking, with average life expectancy in the UK reduced by approximately 1.8 years due to dirty air.
Beyond the tragic human cost, the financial impact is also enormous. Air pollution is estimated to cost the UK over £500 million each week in healthcare, lost productivity, and other indirect effects. When longer-term issues like dementia are included, the annual cost could reach as high as £50 billion. Health professionals argue that failing to address air pollution with urgency is both morally and economically irresponsible.
In response, medical professionals and campaigners are urging the government to take decisive action. Many joined a peaceful march from Great Ormond Street Hospital to Downing Street, delivering a letter calling for stronger laws and political leadership. Central to their demands is the revival of “Ella’s Law,” named in memory of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the first child in the UK to have air pollution officially recorded as a cause of death. The law would establish clean air as a human right and require the government to meet safer air quality standards.
While the government has pledged £575 million for local air quality improvements, many doctors say it’s not enough. They argue that if another public health issue were killing 30,000 people a year, it would be treated with far greater urgency. Clean air, they insist, should not be a privilege; it must be a right for all.
