Transport and Health A Global Issue

According to the findings of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010, air pollution is now one of the top ten causes of fatal illness worldwide. Pollution from cars has become an especially serious issue in many Asian cities due to a rapid increase in ownership and use. It is estimated that 2.1 million people, mostly in China and India, died prematurely in Asia from air pollution in 2010, with a major cause being fine particles and gases emitted by cars and lorries [35, 36]. The full effects of such pollution on health and fatality in these cities may not be known for many years due to the long latency of many associated diseases, including cancers. 

Air pollution and the resulting ill health and premature death are unwanted consequences of great technical innovation in the engineering of powered vehicles. The minimal ethical challenge to engineers is now to collaborate with others to devise built environments and transport systems that diminish such unwanted effects. The aspirational ethical challenge to engineers is to collaborate with others to devise built environments and transport systems that actively promote the health of persons and their communities. 

British Medical Association, Medical milestones celebrating key advances since 1840, Br. Med. J. 334 (2007) 

General Medical Council, Good Medical Practice (GMC, London, 2006) 

Fife Telecare Development Programme (Fife Council, 2010), p. 6 

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