6355 Building air quality conversations with local media and politicians

Objectives To get child health into air quality conversations on local media and by local politicians, serving to increase public awareness of the impact of air quality on child health and support local politicians in acting to improve air quality. Methods As Ride For Their Lives Glasgow, a group of health professionals planned a cycle ride celebrating interventions that have improved/will improve local air quality, whilst highlighting the health consequences of ongoing exposure to harmful pollutants. The route roughly followed the perimeter of Glasgow's Low Emission Zone, visited two Air Quality Monitoring Stations, and included sections of traffic-free active travel routes. Ride planners familiarised themselves with data for the year to date from the monitoring stations passed. We wrote a press release and a briefing document, and contacted local media and chairs of relevant policy committees of the City council, and a local Member of the Scottish Parliament. The chair of one committee joined the ride. At the monitoring stations, we discussed NO2 and PM2.5 levels. By the Maternity Hospital, we highlighted associations between air pollutants and adverse birth outcomes.¹ ² Results Ride participants are better informed about air quality and health, about discrepancies between WHO air quality guidelines³ and Scottish objectives, and recent air quality data locally. They are more familiar with active travel infrastructure in Glasgow, and ready to cascade what they've learned and been inspired by. The author undertook a pre-recorded interview with a local radio station (filmed and shared on the station's social media), a live national radio interview, and subsequently contributed to a UK-wide Radio programme. At the local station's request, she has since conducted further interviews, eg on International Car Free Day. In addition to one council committee chair joining the ride, chairs of 2 other committees and a local MSP have agreed to meet ride participants subsequently. A short Powerpoint presentation has been produced for ride participants (and other health professionals) to use when meeting with politicians to discuss air quality and child health. Conclusion For paediatricians to successfully advocate for improvements in air quality, engaging with politicians and the media are important steps. A cycle ride can be an effective and enjoyable focus for initiating engagement. Involving primary care and public health staff as well as child health specialists in ride planning brought a breadth of knowledge, experience and narrative that strengthened the group's messaging, and prompted actions that paediatricians alone may not have achieved. References James Milner, et al. Air pollution and child health impacts of decarbonisation in 16 global cities: modelling study, Environment International, 2023. The impact of climate change on global child health – position statement, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, 2021 (modified 2023). Air quality guidelines, World Health Organisation. 2021.