HOLD YOUR BREATH: Effects of Air Quality on Health

 Description: Air pollution poses a major environmental risk to health and is estimated to cause approximately 2 million premature deaths a year worldwide. Exposure to pollutants is largely beyond the control of individuals and requires legislative action to lessen the global burden of disease from respiratory infections, heart disease, and lung cancer.  WHO guidelines predict that by reducing particulate matter (PM10) pollution down to 20 micrograms per cubic meter, public health authorities can cut air quality-related deaths by approximately 15%. Significant reduction of exposure to air pollution can be achieved through lowering the concentrations of several of the most common air pollutants emitted during the combustion of fossil fuels, but industries are unlikely to comply without a fight.

Goal: Politicians and professional lobbyists swing votes in favor of big industries at the expense of public health. Air quality legislation is always up for review - get involved to provide an opposing voice through lobbying, letters, and education.

Panelists:

Kristen Welker-Hood, ScD MSN RN

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Dr. Welker-Hood is a nurse and environmental health scientist. She is Director of the Environment and Health Program at Physicians for Social Responsibility in Washington, DC. She previously served as Senior Policy Fellow in the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health of the American Nurses Association. She holds a BS in Nursing from the State University of New York in Binghamton, NY, an MS in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, and received her Doctorate in Environmental Health Science from Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, in 2005.

Awards received by Dr. Welker-Hood include: Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society membership and the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing Academic Merit Scholarship in both 1997 and 1998. In 2005 she was awarded a 2005 University of Texas Medical Branch President’s Cabinet Award for programs benefiting the Galveston, Texas community.

Jacqueline Patterson

Jacqueline Patterson is the Director of the Climate Justice Initiative at the NAACP. Most recently  a global women’s rights consultant, Jacqui Patterson has enjoyed a fulfilling career working in the capacities of researcher, program manager, coordinator, advocate and activist working on women‘s rights, violence against women, HIV&AIDS, racial justice, economic justice, and environmental and climate justice. Since 2007 Patterson has served as coordinator for an organization she co-founded, Women of Color United. Previously, Patterson served as a Senior Women’s Rights Policy Analyst for ActionAid where she ensured the integration of a women’s rights lens for the issues of food rights, macroeconomics, and climate change as well as the intersection of violence against women and HIV&AIDS.  Prior to this she served as Assistant Vice-President of HIV/AIDS Programs for Interchurch Medical Assistance, Inc. providing management and technical assistance to medical facilities and programs in 23 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. Patterson served as the Outreach Project Associate for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, as policy analyst for Baltimore City Healthy Start; and Research coordinator for Johns Hopkins University. A returned U.S. Peace Corps Jamaica volunteer, Patterson holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Maryland and a master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. She currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Congressional Black Caucus Fellows Alumni Network, The Leadership Circle of the Gender Justice Working Group of the US Social Forum, Co-Founder and Coordinator for Women of Color United, the Advisory Committee for The Grandmothers’ Project, the Steering Committee of ATHENA Network, as well as serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute of the Black World.