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European countries face conflicting demands for transport policies. While transport has a key role in the economy, concern is increasing about the social sustainability of current transport policies, and how they can harm human health and the environment.

Promoting healthy and sustainable transport alternatives prevents the negative effects of transport patterns on human health, such as those caused by air pollution and obesity. Cooperation among sectors and high-level political commitment are crucial to ensure that health issues are considered when transport policies are made.

WHO/Europe’s effective response

WHO/Europe:

• supports countries in defining and managing mobility policies that benefit health by developing methods and tools to assess the health impact of transport;
• promotes a sustainable transport for health and the environment through an integrated approach, which prevents and reduces the health effects associated with unsustainable transport patterns;
• helps its Member States fully to consider transport policies’ implications for health, the environment and sustainable development by developing methods and tools for health impact assessment to support the adoption and enforcement of mobility policies beneficial to health; and promoting policies for sustainable transport and healthy transport modes.

These activities contribute to achieving the goals of the WHO European process on environment and health and of the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP).