Ella’s Legacy, The Right To Breathe

What Ella’s story reveals about air pollution, housing, and why clean air must be treated as a basic public health protection, not a postcode lottery. 

Nine year old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah was the first person in the UK to have air pollution named on her death certificate. In this powerful conversation, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah CBE joins host Jenny Danson, CEO of Healthy Homes Hub, to share Ella’s story and what must change in law, policy and housing. 

Key themes include: 

• How 28 months of hospital admissions exposed the invisible harm caused by polluted air. 

• Why Ella’s Law, the Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill, seeks to make clean air a legal right and align with World Health Organization standards. 

• The links between outdoor and indoor air, COVID, PM2.5 and chronic conditions such as asthma, heart disease and dementia. 

• Why new homes must be built to healthy standards so they do not need immediate retrofit. 

• The role of public campaigns, schools and public buildings in making “safe air” the norm. 

Useful links: 
Ella Roberta Family Foundation: https://ellaroberta.org/ 
Clean Air (Human Rights) “Ella’s Law”: https://www.rcpch.ac.uk/news-events/news/2025-11/fph-rcpch-bacaph-joint-statement-re-introduction-clean-air-human-rights 
Clean Air Act 1956 (background): https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Eliz2/4-5/52/enacted 

Practical steps for housing providers 

• Audit high risk homes and estates near main roads or pollution hotspots, prioritising children and people with respiratory conditions. 

• Treat indoor air quality as a core building safety issue and specify ventilation and filtration in all new build and retrofit programmes. 

• Work with local health partners to identify repeat asthma admissions linked to particular blocks or streets, then act on the housing factors. 

• Build clean air education into resident engagement so people understand both outdoor and indoor risks without feeling blamed. 

• Publicly support Ella’s Law and wider clean air legislation, making clear that healthy air is fundamental to a healthy home.