The road to fairer health

The 8th European Mobility Week is due to take place from 16 to 22 September.

The event aims to promote sustainable transport and comes a time when environmental considerations are more important than ever.

The theme of this year’s event is “Improving city climates”, with a focus on getting around without the car, by walking, cycling or using public transport.

"The European Mobility Week is a clear example of how initiatives at the European level can encourage and facilitate local action. A new Action Plan on urban mobility that I intend to propose shortly follows exactly this line of thinking,” said European commissioner for transport Antonio Tajani.

As well as helping local projects, there are other expectations for the action plan on urban mobility, which has been delayed since last year.

Angered by the delay, the European parliament published its own proposals for the action plan, which include a permanent European forum on urban transport governance and better information on air pollution and noise, accidents, traffic jams and congestion.

A WHO report on the social determinants of health also underlined the urgency of tackling urban pollution levels.

“Urban areas are by far the most affected by…vehicle-related air pollution, with approximately 800, 000 annual deaths from ambient urban air pollution,” the report says.

“Within cities, new models of governance are required to plan cities that are designed in such a way that the physical, social, and natural environments prevent and ameliorate the new urban health risks,” the report adds.

More information about European Mobility Week can be found at the official website for the event.

The WHO report on the social determinants of health can be downloaded from here.