The impact of ambient air pollution on hospital admissions
Air pollution is the centre of debate on many fronts, from air protection measures involving road traffic, to technological innovations to reduce harmful emissions. A recent study carried out by Prof. Filippini and Prof. Masiero "The impact of ambient air pollution on hospital admissions" investigates the relationship between pollution and hospitalisation: based on the data collected on patients in Switzerland, the research highlights the health costs generated by air pollution, not covered by those who cause it, and contributes to the ongoing discussion about future environmental policies. There has been a lot of talk in Ticino over the summer about air pollution, ozone threshold, and measures to reduce the impact on the environment. Prof. Filippini , Full Professor in Economics at Universitą della Svizzera italiana and at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (holder of a joint USI-ETHZ chair), recently spoke in an interview with SRF Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen about the C02 tax on petrol. He explained using one of his studies, how the incentive tax makes sense, but in order to reduce emissions, one needs to also target the market and not only consumers and their investments in the energy sector, which are not always rational. Beyond the measures that have been or will be implemented in Switzerland and internationally, and beyond the technological progress that brings and will bring more efficient and 'clean' means, air pollution remains one of the factors of greatest impact on health.
