Transport-Related Health Impacts: A Case Study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Transport is a fundamental component of every community. Besides enormous benefits for the development of the economy, society, culture, and human civilization, it also has notable impacts on human health, both positively and negatively. The impacts of transport on health have become a global issue, particularly the adverse effects arising from traffic exposure to accidents, air pollution, noise pollution, stress, and climate change. While numerous studies have investigated the health impacts of transport in developed cities, such research is limited in developing cities where the magnitude of the problem is expected to be much greater. This study aims to investigate the health impacts of transport in Ho Chi Minh City, a developing city in the Asian region, to add further information to the limited knowledge of the health impacts of transport in developing countries. This research shows that the magnitude of the transport-related health impacts in HCMC is expected to be high. However, accurately estimating the magnitude of its impacts remains challenging due to the lack of relevant data and resources. Improving the data quality and enhancing air and noise quality monitoring systems are urgently needed to understand the problems better and develop appropriate mitigating measures to improve the situation in HCMC.