A CYCLE event was held to raise awareness of the health impacts of climate change and air pollution - especially on children.
National campaign Ride For Their Lives (RFTL) organised the event, which started at Hexham General Hospital on October 8 before reaching the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.
The Royal College for Paediatric and Children's Health states almost all children (more than 99%) are exposed to at least one climate and environmental risk to their health, while the World Heath Organisation (WHO) states air pollution is 'one of the biggest environmental threats to human health, alongside climate change'.
READ MORE: Why cyclists will be riding through Hexham this weekend
Initiated and led by paediatric healthcare professionals, RFTL aims to inspire action on these issues and unite the voice of the world healthcare community.
In 2021, children's hospital staff and health sector leaders involved in RFTL cycled from Geneva to the UN Conference on Climate Change in Glasgow, to deliver their message to world leaders.
Before COP27 this November, healthcare providers are organising rides across the UK from London to Newcastle.
Caused by burning fossil fuels for power, transport and industry, air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people a year.
In the UK, it causes an estimated 28,000 to 36,000 premature deaths a year - including that of 9-year-old Ella Kissi-Debrah, who died in 2013.
Air pollution contributes to respiratory conditions like asthma, lung cancer and heart disease, and evidence is emerging it contributes to dementia, low birth weight and Type 2 diabetes.
Children are worst affected - their lungs and brains are still developing, and they breathe faster.
RFTL calls on health providers and organisations to sign the Healthy Climate Prescription letter, and support the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty - both call on governments to deliver on climate action.
On October 18, healthcare professionals will set off on a two-week ride to take the letter and call for the treaty from Geneva, through Italy to Naples, connecting hospitals along the way to deliver their messages to COP27 in Egypt.
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