Humanity is wrestling with the ubiquitous challenges posed by climate change and its extreme
impacts on our health. The film, The Data Healing the Lungs of a City, showcases global health
organization Vital Strategies and its partners for their work to address air quality and promote clean
air action for health in Jakarta, Indonesia. The film is part of The Climate and Us series, produced
for the Global Climate and Health Alliance by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions.
The film shares visceral storytelling – showing real stories about how air quality affects the lives of
people in Jakarta, and some of the work underway to mitigate and reduce air pollution. People are
dealing with the negative effects of air pollution in countless cities around the world, and
conditions will only get worse if action is not taken.
The Data Healing the Lungs of a City shares the stories of three members of a Jakarta community
living near a bustling urban port, several factories and congested streets—factors which contribute
to high levels of air pollution. Novi, a mother of two, and Cepi express concern over the dust and
pollution they and their community breathe. Zalfaa, a local medical student who has been learning
about health concerns related to breathing polluted air, volunteers to educate people on this issue.
An important part of engaging residents on air pollution are the air monitoring stations that have
been set up around Jakarta, including one right next to the school that Novi and Cepi’s children
attend.
By being able to access data on the levels of pollution across Jakarta, residents are able to make
informed decisions to reduce their risk, and decision makers are able to use the data address the
leading sources of pollutants.
On the launch of the film, Sumi Mehta, Vice President, Environmental, Climate & Urban Health,
Vital Strategies, stated, “Vital Strategies works at the intersection of climate and health to improve
air quality—building capacity in Jakarta and other cities to monitor local air quality, and equipping
frontline healthcare workers to respond to health concerns caused by air pollution. By illuminating
the interconnectedness of human health and planet health, we hope to see a surge in society
committing to our shared goal: to improve health for everyone, everywhere through clean air and
climate action.”
The series launched on Oct. 31, 2023, at www.theclimateandus.com. It was shown at New York
City Climate Week and COP 28, the United Nations Climate Change Conference, that took place in
Nov. and Dec. 2023. In the first 8 weeks on Facebook and Twitter, The Data Healing the Lungs of a
City received 1.08 million impressions, 588.5k total views, 556.5k engagements, and 33k click
throughs to the website. Of the 31 films in the series, Vital Strategies’ film had the highest average
rate of engagements from impression at 53.47%, meaning that roughly 1 in 2 people who were
shown the film on social media went on to engage with it in some way.
