Air pollution, second risk factor for premature death – Report

A report supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that air pollution is increasingly affecting human health and is now the second global risk factor, after high blood pressure, for premature death. .

The State of the World’s Air (SoGA) report, published in collaboration with UNICEF, points out the growing and deadly global impact of air pollution.

The fifth edition of the report, published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI), revealed that air pollution caused 8.1 million deaths worldwide in 2021, and many millions are grappling with debilitating chronic diseases, leaving health care systems. health, economies and societies.

Additionally, it found that children under five years old are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, leading to the deaths of more than 700,000 people in this age group in 2021.

The SoGA report found that pollutants such as outdoor fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which come from the burning of fossil fuels and biomass in sectors such as transportation, residential housing, wildfires and others, caused more than 90 percent of deaths from air pollution worldwide. Pollutants were “the most consistent and accurate predictor of poor health outcomes worldwide.”

Other pollutants such as household air pollution, ozone (O3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which can be found in traffic exhaust, also contribute to the global deterioration of human health.

IES President Elena Craft said she hopes the information in the report inspires change.

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“Air pollution has enormous health implications. “We know that improving air quality and global public health is practical and achievable,” he stated.

Other effects of air pollution

In addition to affecting people’s health, pollutants such as PM2.5 add to the greenhouse gases that are warming the planet. As the Earth warms, regions with high levels of NO2 will experience significant levels of ozone, which may have greater health effects.

Pallavi Pant, HEI Global Health Director, said: “This new report provides a stark reminder of the significant impacts air pollution has on human health, with much of the burden borne by young children, older age and low and middle income people. -income countries”.

He continued: “This clearly points to an opportunity for cities and countries to consider air quality and pollution as high-risk factors when developing health policies and other non-communicable disease prevention and control programs.”

The report reveals that children are “especially vulnerable” to air pollution and the effects can begin in the womb.

It states that young children’s exposure to air pollution has caused one in five deaths worldwide, pneumonia and asthma, and affects children with inequalities more than those in high-income countries.

UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Kitty van der Heijden said almost 2,000 children under five die every day due to the effects of air pollution.

‘”The global urgency is undeniable,” he said. “It is imperative that governments and businesses consider these estimates and locally available data and use them to inform meaningful, child-focused actions to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health.”

Progress

In addition to sharing details about the negative effects of air pollution on human health, the SoGA report also states that there has been increased awareness about the harms of being exposed to air pollution at home and a 53 percent decrease percent in the under-five mortality rate since 2000 due to increased access to clean energy for cooking.

Additionally, regions experiencing the highest levels of air pollution have begun to address the problem by installing air pollution monitoring networks and implementing stricter air quality policies, particularly in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

(YAYA)