Perceptions of Health Co-Benefits in Relation to Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions: A Survey among Urban Residents in Three Chinese Cities.
Limited information is available on the perceptions of stakeholders concerning the health co-benefits of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of urban residents on the health co-benefits involving GHG abatement and related influencing factors in three cities in China. Beijing, Ningbo and Guangzhou were selected for this survey. Participants were recruited from randomly chosen committees, following quotas for gender and age in proportion to the respective population shares. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests were employed to examine the associations between socio-demographic variables and individuals' perceptions of the health co-benefits related to GHG mitigation. Unconditional logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the influencing factors of respondents' awareness about the health co-benefits. A total of 1159 participants were included in the final analysis, of which 15.9% reported that they were familiar with the health co-benefits of GHG emission reductions. Those who were younger, more educated, with higher family income, and with registered urban residence, were more likely to be aware of health co-benefits. Age, attitudes toward air pollution and governmental efforts to improve air quality, suffering from respiratory diseases, and following low carbon lifestyles are significant predictors of respondents' perceptions on the health co-benefits. These findings may not only provide information to policy-makers to develop and implement public welcome policies of GHG mitigation, but also help to bridge the gap between GHG mitigation measures and public engagement as well as willingness to change health-related behaviors.
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. gaojinghong2007@126.com.
Jinghong
J
Gao
Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China. xugz@nbcdc.org.cn.
Guozhang
G
Xu
Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 511430, China. mawj@gdiph.org.cn.
Wenjun
W
Ma
Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 100013, China. ZY968919@sina.com.
Yong
Y
Zhang
School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland 1010, New Zealand. a.woodward@auckland.ac.nz.
Alistair
A
Woodward
Environmental Change Department, Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, Chilton OX11 0RQ, UK. sotiris.vardoulakis@phe.gov.uk.
Sotiris
S
Vardoulakis
NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Environmental Change and Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK. sari.kovats@lshtm.ac.uk.
Sari
S
Kovats
Public and Environmental Health Research Unit, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 15-17 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH, UK. paul.wilkinson@lshtm.ac.uk.
Paul
P
Wilkinson
Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China. hetf@nbcdc.org.cn.
Tianfeng
T
He
Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 511430, China. linhualiang2002@163.com.
Hualiang
H
Lin
Guangdong Provincial Institute of Public Health, Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Guangzhou 511430, China. gztt_2002@163.com.
Tao
T
Liu
Ningbo Municipal Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Ningbo 315010, China. gushaohua1989@126.com.
Shaohua
S
Gu
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. wangjun@icdc.cn.
Jun
J
Wang
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. lijingsddx@126.com.|Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shandong University, Jinan 250012, China. lijingsddx@126.com.
Jing
J
Li
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. smart_yjun@163.com.
Jun
J
Yang
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. liuxiaobo@icdc.cn.
Xiaobo
X
Liu
Changping District Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102200, China. lijing986169323@sina.cn.
Jing
J
Li
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. wuhaixia@icdc.cn.
Haixia
H
Wu
State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China. liuqiyong@icdc.cn.
Qiyong
Q
Liu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002244:Carbon; D002681:China; D002947:Cities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D011640:Public Policy; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
D002244:Carbon
China; climate change; cross-sectional survey; greenhouse gas; health co-benefits; mitigation; perception