How Much Is Air Quality Really Costing Us?

Anthony J. Hedley, BBS, JP, MBChB, MD, FRCP
Department of Community Medicine, School of Public Health
The University of Hong Kong

Environment Committee and Health & Wellness Committee

Over the past 10 years, one of the priorities of the government of Hong Kong and the South China business and economic community is to protect our health through improved air quality. Especially with the Environmental Protection Department’s newly proposed Air Quality Objectives, what has changed? Professor Anthony J. Hedley will discuss:
* the current state of pollution in Hong Kong and the greater China region
* the impact of the government efforts
* the repercussions on the general public’s health and well-being
* the economic consequences to the whole community
* what more can be done

Professor Hedley was trained in the medical schools of Aberdeen and Edinburgh and formerly worked in endocrinology and internal medicine before moving to the field of public health medicine. He has been an active researcher in chronic disease epidemiology, health services research and environmental health for over 40 years. In 1983 he was appointed to the Chair of Public Health in the University of Glasgow and since 1988 has been Professor of Community Medicine in Hong Kong and honorary consultant to the Hong Kong Department of Health and Hospital Authority. He was Chairman of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health from 1997-2002. He was a reviewer for the new World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines in 2005. In 1999 he was awarded a World Health Organisation medal for outstanding contributions to public health.