Campaign group Mums for Lungs once again have Manchester’s air quality in their sights after their latest FOI request revealed that the number of babies and young children admitted to the city’s hospitals with breathing problems has risen by a third.
Just over a year ago the group disclosed that Greater Manchester had the highest proportion of children being hospitalised for asthma, 65% more than the average.
The new figures show that in the under-18 age range there were 520 more children attending central Manchester hospitals with breathing problems than in the previous year – a 13% rise. Amongst the under-3s, the situation has become much worse with the number admitted with serious breathing problems jumping 33% from 654 to 872.
Famously Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham u-turned on plans for a Clean Air Zone and will instead attempt to improve Greater Manchester’s air quality through an investment led approach.
Speaking at our Northern Air Quality Conference in March, Liz Godfrey, a parent of two, who runs the Manchester Mums for Lungs group, pointed out that there has been almost no change in the number of diesels vehicles on the street of Manchester since 2017 and no incentive for drivers not to buy a diesel. What’s worse, because they’ve been chased out of many cities, used diesels are cheap and therefore attractive to those living in areas were there has been no action taken against them. ‘We’re a sink for used diesels’ she sad.
Vehicle licensing statistics from last year show that there are still 468,000 diesel vehicles in Greater Manchester and DEFRA’s latest figures show that Manchester has the highest levels of NO2 in the country with an annual mean concentration of 55μg m³, against the UK’s limit of 40μg m³.
Nor do these levels seem to be heading in the right direction, having risen 6% since 2021. No other local authority in which NO2 exceeds legal limits are seeing levels rise.
Dr Sinead Millwood, an NHS GP in Levenshulme, said: ‘All the evidence shows that there is a clear connection between high levels of air pollution and respiratory conditions. These figures also demonstrate that there are hundreds of children who are attending hospitals with illnesses that could be prevented.
‘Air pollution affects us from before birth through to old age with children particularly at risk as they are growing and developing. It can lead to poorly developed lungs, asthma and respiratory infections as well as affecting their brain development and ability to learn. I often see kids with these preventable illnesses and wish our leaders would take the action needed to address this.’
Alba De Toro Nozal, the mother of a seven-year-old boy, Eliot, pictured, believes his condition, which he has had since a baby, is being made worse by pollution in south Manchester. Alba said: ‘My seven year old boy had several admissions to hospital when he was very little. He had viral induced wheezing, he couldn’t breathe at home even with inhalers so we had to constantly go to A&E to put him on a nebuliser. In hindsight, I know this was caused by pollution in the air in our local area.’
Liz Godfrey added: ‘We have an epidemic of serious lung problems and respiratory illnesses amongst our youngest and most vulnerable in our city, we need politicians like Andy Burnham and city councillors to take action urgently to protect little lungs. There are nearly half a million polluting diesel cars and vans on the roads of Manchester. We need a clear and comprehensive plan to reduce the impact of these vehicles and clean up the toxic air we all have to breathe.’
Image: Sarah Pull
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