Bronwyn King AO1
1Public health champion; Founder, Director, and CEO, Tobacco Free Portfolios
Abstract:
While experts across a range of disciplines have long recognised the importance of indoor air quality (IAQ), the COVID-19 pandemic sparked unprecedented global attention towards the issue. Early in 2020, health authorities determined that the mode of COVID-19 transmission was via fomites (or ‘touch’), only to have research demonstrate – shortly afterwards – that aerosol transmission was the overwhelming manner of acquiring infection. Around the same time, it was widely acknowledged that COVID-19 would become a permanent threat to health – both acutely and in the long-term, given both repeated infections and long-lasting health impacts are common. Once these facts were established, and put in context for OECD countries, where populations generally spend ~90% of the time indoors, attention turned to IAQ.
Despite both urgency and a promising suite of benefits in health, cognitive performance and productivity, progress on IAQ remains slow. Hospital acquired infections – of any variety – typically result in incident reports, discussions at mortality and morbidity meetings and/or internal investigations. Processes are refined, learnings shared, and new protocols implemented. Somewhat curiously, hospital-acquired COVID infections have sidestepped such scrutiny and action, despite evidence of serious impacts including worse patient outcomes, longer hospital stays, delayed treatments and even death.
Drawing on lessons from mitigating other global public health challenges – like tobacco, vehicle safety and sun damage, Dr King will explore challenges and potential pathways forwards to engage leaders, the health sector and the community more broadly, to accelerate and amplify progress on IAQ.