The latest ECF report on the Cycling Economy puts the health value at €96.55 billion per year as calculated by the WHO’s Health Economic Assessment tool (HEAT) . Adding morbidity, mental health, children and work absenteeism brings the number up to €191 billion per year.

The Cycling Forum Europe brought top minds from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the academic world to Brussels to talk with members of the European Parliament and other experts about the health value of cycling.

Francesca Racioppi has been working in this field for over 20 years, and is currently based in the WHO regional office for Europe in Copenhagen.

Ms Racioppi congratulated ECF for producing a report that “will help put into perspective the growing interest in Cycling Economics, a new, promising, exciting yet challenging area of economic research, with multiple dimensions.”

“Highlighting the multi-faceted economic dimensions of cycling is of the greatest importance” she said “since a strategic development of cycling in Europe requires the concerted effort and commitment from very diverse sectors. Each of them needs to see the benefit of supporting this great change from the perspective of their own respective agendas, be it health, sustainable development, smart urban leaving, creating new opportunities for economic growth. The ECF study will also make a very useful contribution to the current work on an EU strategy on cycling and the development of a Pan-European Masterplan for Cycling, which is expected to be launched in 2019.”

Racioppi expressed satisfaction from the WHO in seeing that one of its tools, the HEAT, was used by the ECF to quantify the benefits of reduced mortality from cycling. WHO was not involved in the preparation of the ECF’s Cycling Economy report.

Excerpts Professor Harry Rutter MD

Dr Harry Rutter was introduced by Racioppi as “one of the leading brains behind the conception and development of the HEAT.” The HEAT website credits Rutter with the “original idea.” At the Cycling Forum Bikenomics event he said that he and Racioppi first considered a tool like the HEAT about 20 years ago.  Since then he has been deeply engaged in the field, founded and directed the National Obesity Observatory England, and lectured at many universities. He has an honorary position at Oxford, and is senior clinical researcher at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The worry about exposure to air pollution or collisions is out of proportion to the good that comes from cycling, argued Dr Rutter.

“The dangers and risks to cycling are hugely outweighed by the benefits.  Particularly regular physical activity. The benefits are in things like reduced mortality, coronary heart disease (CHD), diabetes, obesity and others.”

“On top of which the people who are cycling for transport are doing less harm than those using motorized transport modes.”

“Nothing magic happens when people cross the blue line” (indicating 150 minutes of PA per week). “The benefits of PA continue to accrue as they do more and more. However, the benefits at the public health level are the greatest for getting the people who do the least to start doing even 10 minutes a day of cycling.”

Asked when people start benefiting from riding a bike? The answer from Dr Rutter MD was “from the moment you get on it.” Adding, “Of course just doing it once is not enough.  You have to keep doing it.”

Rutter concluded by congratulating the ECF on their work, expressing his enthusiasm for their use of the HEAT tool.

 “What we’ve been working on for over 10 years now is the question:  ‘How do we take health knowledge and apply it in the transport arena?’ I’m delighted to see the report that’s come out because that‘s a perfect illustration of just what this tool was designed to do.”

For more information:
How to use the HEAT tool heat@euro.who.int
How to use the results for advocacy ECF health policy office Randy Rzewnicki randy@ecf.com
ECF & WHO webinars on the use of HEAT : upcoming in 2017 www.ecf.com