Failure to improve Hong Kong’s chronic air pollution claims at least 1,600 lives every year, a study has found. The report, authored by Anthony Hedley, an environmental and public health expert at the University of Hong Kong, is a grim reminder of the hidden human toll arising from the territory’s rapidly deteriorating air quality.

“Air pollution is a major threat to our health and our economy,” said Mr Hedley, who also estimated that Hong Kong’s dirty air contributes to 6.8m family doctor visits, 64,000 “hospital bed-days” and economic losses of HK$20bn ($2.6bn) each year. “You don’t see the body bags. If that were happening all hell would break loose in this town . . . This is a medical emergency.”