Air pollution mortality benefits of sustained COVID-19 mobility restrictions in Australian cities.

OBJECTIVES: Emissions from road traffic, power generation and industry were substantially reduced during pandemic lockdown periods globally. Thus, we analysed reductions in traffic-related air pollution in Australian capital cities during March-April 2020 and then modelled the mortality benefits that could be realised if similar reductions were sustained by structural policy interventions. STUDY DESIGN: Satellite, air pollution monitor and land use observations were used to estimate ground-level nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations in all Australian capital cities during: (a) a typical year with no prolonged air pollution events; (b) a hypothetical sustained reduction in NO2 equivalent to the COVID-19 lockdowns. METHODS: We use the WHO recommended NO2 exposure-response coefficient for mortality (1.023, 95 % CI: 1.008-1.037, per 10 µg/m3 annual average) to assess gains in life expectancy and population-wide years of life from reduced exposure to traffic-related air pollution. RESULTS: We attribute 1.1 % of deaths to anthropogenic NO2 exposures in Australian cities, corresponding to a total of 13,340 years of life lost annually. Although COVID-19-related reductions in NO2 varied widely between Australian cities during April 2020, equivalent and sustained reductions in NO2 emissions could reduce NO2-attributable deaths by 27 %, resulting in 3348 years of life gained annually. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 mobility restrictions reduced NO2 emissions and population-wide exposures in Australian cities. When sustained to the same extent by policy interventions that reduce fossil fuel consumption by favouring the uptake of electric vehicles, active travel and public transport, the health, mortality and economic benefits will be measurable in Australian cities.

A cross-sectional survey of environmental health in remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia.

INTRODUCTION: The Australian Aboriginal population experiences significantly poorer health than the non-Aboriginal population. The contribution of environmental risk factors in remote communities to this health disparity is poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To describe and quantify major environmental risk factors and associated health outcomes in remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. METHODS: The association between environmental health indicators, community infrastructure and reported health outcomes was analysed using linear and logistic regression of survey data. RESULTS: Housing/overcrowding was significantly associated with increased reports of hearing/eyesight (OR 3.01 95 % CI 1.58-5.73), skin (OR 2.71 95 % CI 1.31-5.60), gastrointestinal (OR 3.51 95 % CI 1.49-8.26) and flu/colds (OR 2.47 95 % CI 1.27-4.78) as health concerns. Dust was significantly associated with hearing/eyesight (OR 3.16 95 % CI 1.82-5.48), asthma/respiratory (OR 2.48 95 % CI 1.43-4.29) and flu/colds (OR 3.31 95 % CI 1.88-5.86) as health concerns. CONCLUSION: Poor environmental health is prevalent in remote Aboriginal communities and requires further delineation to inform environmental health policy.

Respiratory hospital admissions were associated with ambient airborne pollen in Darwin, Australia, 2004-2005.

BACKGROUND: Although the role of pollen and fungus in specific allergic disorders has been well established, the public health impacts of ambient concentrations of airborne pollen and fungal spores; the shapes of concentration-response relationships; and the relative effects of different taxa are gaps in current knowledge. OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between daily average ambient pollen and fungal spore concentrations with hospital admissions for total respiratory diseases; asthma; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); and respiratory infections in Darwin, Australia, during the period from April 2004 to November 2005. METHODS: We assessed these relationships in a two-stage modelling approach designed to quantify potential non-linear relationships. First, generalized additive models determined the shapes of concentration-response relationships. Second, linear associations were examined using generalized linear models. Non-linear relationships were analysed by categorizing pollen and fungal spore concentrations based on their distributions. RESULTS: Positive linear associations were found between total pollen concentrations and hospital admissions for total respiratory diseases and COPD. While our exploratory first-stage analysis suggested non-linear relationships for total pollen with asthma and respiratory infections, no convincing evidence for these relationships was found in the second-stage analysis. When individual taxa were investigated, associations were the strongest in relation to Myrtaceae pollen (the dominant tree taxa in the region), while positive associations not attaining statistical significance were observed for Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Arecaceae. No associations were evident for any conditions with fungal spores. CONCLUSIONS: Our finding of an association between pollen count and respiratory hospital admissions that could not be explained by asthma admissions suggests that ambient airborne pollens might have a wider public health impact than previously recognized.

Healthy country: healthy people? Exploring the health benefits of indigenous natural resource management.

OBJECTIVE: Decades of health-related research have produced a large body of knowledge describing alarming rates of morbidity, mortality and social/cultural disruption among Indigenous Australians, but have failed to deliver sustainable interventions to arrest the deepening spiral of ill-health. This paper explores the potential of Indigenous natural resource management (NRM) activities to promote and preserve Indigenous health in remote areas of northern Australia. METHOD: A literature review of the health, social science and ecology peer-reviewed journals and secondary literature. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Effective interventions in Indigenous health will require trans-disciplinary, holistic approaches that explicitly incorporate Indigenous health beliefs and engage with the social and cultural drivers of health. Aboriginal peoples maintain a strong belief that continued association with and caring for ancestral lands is a key determinant of health. Individual engagement with 'country' provides opportunities for physical activity and improved diet as well as boosting individual autonomy and self-esteem. Internationally, such culturally congruent health promotion activities have been successful in programs targeting substance abuse and chronic diseases. NRM is fundamental to the maintenance of biodiversity of northern Australia. Increased support for Indigenous involvement in land and sea NRM programs would also deliver concrete social benefits for communities including opportunities for sustainable and culturally apt regional employment, applied education and economic development. NRM may also reinvigorate societal/cultural constructs, increasing collective esteem and social cohesion.

The effects of experience on attribution of a stereotyped personality to children with Down's syndrome.

A questionnaire in the form of a bipolar rating scale was constructed using 26 personality attributes drawn from the literature on personality of children with Down's syndrome (DS). This was administered to nine groups of adults with differing levels of experience and contact with children with DS. Adults who had frequent contact proved to be significantly less likely to rate the personality of children with DS as stereotypical than those with little contact. The implications of acceptance of the stereotype are discussed in relation to integration and to development of the mother-child relationship.