Tredos Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of World Health Organization (WHO) appealed to all the mayors in the world that if they have political will, they can create healthy cities. In a tweet he said, ‘Mayors have the power to make decisions that affects the millions of people. The solutions are often simple and affordable. For healthy cities, the missing piece is political will.’
In the video that is tweeted he said, ‘More than half of the world population lives in cities and that number is growing. Cities are places where human health can either flourish or be destroyed. People living in cities usually have better access to services and better opportunities for education and employment. But city life can also expose people to many health hazards. Crowded conditions, sedentary lifestyle, more processed food, pollution and traffic accidents.’
The video further mentions that, ‘Eight out of ten cities globally fail to meet WHO’s air quality guideline for air quality. Every year we estimate that three million people die of diseases led by air pollution. Arthritis, stroke, lung cancer and respiratory disease. Lot these diseases continue to prosper if its inhabitants are sick. Healthy cities need healthy people. When people are healthy, cities thrive.
‘As mayors, you have power to make decisions that affect health of millions of people. The solutions are often simple and affordable. What is missing is political will. By having reliable public transport and responsible waste management, we can create great examples of cities that shows what is possible.’
Mukta Tilak, mayor of Pune Municipal Corporation said, “It is true that city can prosper only if it has healthy inhabitants. In Pune, the corporation has implemented many majors to ensure that air pollution remains under control. Increasing the green cover of the city, improving the public transport facilities and checking on air quality measures has always been the priority of the local government. We will surely take more majors in future to ensure that Pune remains healthy city for its residents.”