Air pollution linked to 8,000 children in Hackney hospital

The organisation, made up of parent campaigners, claims the scale of the health crisis is linked to toxic air pollution.

Nearly 8,000 children from the borough were taken to A&E at Homerton Hospital last year with serious respiratory problems.

Across London, more than 113,000 children were taken to hospital or to A&E for serious breathing problems.

The group of campaigners is now calling for urgent action from the mayor of London, local councils, and the government.

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Recent research has shown that the UK has the highest prevalence of asthma in Europe and the Royal College of Physicians estimates that 30,000 people die prematurely every year in the UK from air pollution.

Dr Katie Knight, a paediatric emergency medicine consultant from Haringey, said: “Every year we see thousands of children in London coming to A&E with severe breathing difficulties, many of whom will have had their symptoms exacerbated by toxic air pollution.

“With the NHS 10 Year Plan having just been published, the time to act is now to avoid a crisis in our health system that is entirely preventable.”

The group is calling for an enforceable pathway to meet WHO targets on nitrogen dioxide and PM2.5, at least as soon as this is happening across the EU.

They also want a timeline to phase out existing diesel vehicles in London, starting with those implicated in the Dieselgate scandal, and a phase out of domestic wood burning where it is not the primary source of heating.

They are also calling for restrictions on large, high-polluting SUVs, especially in densely populated areas like London, and urgent funding for School Streets to be introduced across the country.

Jemima Hartshorn, founder and director of Mums for Lungs, added: “These figures are heartbreaking and should finally shame our political leaders into action.

“Children in London are suffering because of avoidable pollution – too many polluting diesel cars and unnecessary domestic wood burning are making our children sick, choke, cough and struggle for their breath, putting them into hospital.”