About 7 million people (equal to one-eighth of all deaths in the world) have died in 2012 as a result of exposure to air pollution: these are the latest estimates from the World Health Organization, issued March 25, 2014. These data double previous estimates and confirm that air pollution is now the most important environmental health risk in the world.
The new data show a stronger connection to exposure to pollution (indoor and outdoor) with heart disease, such as heart attacks and ischemia, and cancer. This is in addition to the role of air pollution in the development of respiratory disorders, including acute and chronic.
The new estimates are based not only on increased knowledge about the diseases caused by pollution, but also a better assessment of human exposure to pollutants through the use of better measurement tools and technologies. This has allowed scientists to get a more detailed analysis of the risks to health in broader demographic areas, which include both urban and rural areas. The highest incidence of the disorder you have in countries with low and middle income countries (the region of South-East Asia and Western Pacific).
"The consolidation of the air we breathe - says Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General of Health-families, women and children - preventing non-communicable diseases and reduces the risk of disorders in women and the most vulnerable population groups such as children and the elderly. Women and children are paying a heavy price for poor indoor air pollution because they spend more time indoors, breathing in the smoke of stoves and wood-burning stoves or coal. "
"The risks associated with air pollution - adds Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Department of Public Health, environmental and social determinants of health - are much greater than previously thought, or he had not understood before, in particular with regard to heart disease and heart attack. Few risks have such a big impact on global health today. Scientific evidence shows the need for concerted action for cleaner air. "
The WHO estimates say 4.3 million deaths are related to indoor pollution and 3.7 million in the outdoors. Many people are exposed to both.
In many cases, the report says, strategies for the remediation of air would also be cheaper in the long term, given the savings for the treatment of disorders related to pollution.
“Cleaning up the air we breathe prevents noncommunicable diseases as well as reduces disease risks among women and vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly,” says Dr Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General Family, Women and Children’s Health. “Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves.”
The new data show a stronger connection to exposure to pollution (indoor and outdoor) with heart disease, such as heart attacks and ischemia, and cancer. This is in addition to the role of air pollution in the development of respiratory disorders, including acute and chronic.
The new estimates are based not only on increased knowledge about the diseases caused by pollution, but also a better assessment of human exposure to pollutants through the use of better measurement tools and technologies. This has allowed scientists to get a more detailed analysis of the risks to health in broader demographic areas, which include both urban and rural areas. The highest incidence of the disorder you have in countries with low and middle income countries (the region of South-East Asia and Western Pacific).
"The consolidation of the air we breathe - says Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General of Health-families, women and children - preventing non-communicable diseases and reduces the risk of disorders in women and the most vulnerable population groups such as children and the elderly. Women and children are paying a heavy price for poor indoor air pollution because they spend more time indoors, breathing in the smoke of stoves and wood-burning stoves or coal. "
"The risks associated with air pollution - adds Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Department of Public Health, environmental and social determinants of health - are much greater than previously thought, or he had not understood before, in particular with regard to heart disease and heart attack. Few risks have such a big impact on global health today. Scientific evidence shows the need for concerted action for cleaner air. "
The WHO estimates say 4.3 million deaths are related to indoor pollution and 3.7 million in the outdoors. Many people are exposed to both.
In many cases, the report says, strategies for the remediation of air would also be cheaper in the long term, given the savings for the treatment of disorders related to pollution.
“Cleaning up the air we breathe prevents noncommunicable diseases as well as reduces disease risks among women and vulnerable groups, including children and the elderly,” says Dr Flavia Bustreo, WHO Assistant Director-General Family, Women and Children’s Health. “Poor women and children pay a heavy price from indoor air pollution since they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from leaky coal and wood cook stoves.”
Included in the assessment is a breakdown of deaths attributed to specific diseases, underlining that the vast majority of air pollution deaths are due to cardiovascular diseases as follows:
Outdoor air pollution-caused deaths – breakdown by disease:
- 40% – ischaemic heart disease;
- 40% – stroke;
- 11% – chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD);
- 6% - lung cancer; and
- 3% – acute lower respiratory infections in children.
Indoor air pollution-caused deaths – breakdown by disease:
- 34% - stroke;
- 26% - ischaemic heart disease;
- 22% - COPD;
- 12% - acute lower respiratory infections in children; and
- 6% - lung cancer.
The new estimates are based on the latest WHO mortality data from 2012 as well as evidence of health risks from air pollution exposures. Estimates of people’s exposure to outdoor air pollution in different parts of the world were formulated through a new global data mapping. This incorporated satellite data, ground-level monitoring measurements and data on pollution emissions from key sources, as well as modelling of how pollution drifts in the air.
Risks factors are greater than expected
“The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes,” says Dr Maria Neira, Director of WHO’s Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. “Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution; the evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe.”
After analysing the risk factors and taking into account revisions in methodology, WHO estimates indoor air pollution was linked to 4.3 million deaths in 2012 in households cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The new estimate is explained by better information about pollution exposures among the estimated 2.9 billion people living in homes using wood, coal or dung as their primary cooking fuel, as well as evidence about air pollution's role in the development of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and cancers.
In the case of outdoor air pollution, WHO estimates there were 3.7 million deaths in 2012 from urban and rural sources worldwide.
Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Due to this overlap, mortality attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the total estimate of around 7 million deaths in 2012.
“Excessive air pollution is often a by-product of unsustainable policies in sectors such as transport, energy, waste management and industry. In most cases, healthier strategies will also be more economical in the long term due to health-care cost savings as well as climate gains,” says Dr Carlos Dora, WHO Coordinator for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health. “WHO and health sectors have a unique role in translating scientific evidence on air pollution into policies that can deliver impact and improvements that will save lives.”
The release of today’s data is a significant step in advancing a WHO roadmap for preventing diseases related to air pollution. This involves the development of a WHO-hosted global platform on air quality and health to generate better data on air pollution-related diseases and strengthened support to countries and cities through guidance, information and evidence about health gains from key interventions.
Later this year, WHO will release indoor air quality guidelines on household fuel combustion, as well as country data on outdoor and indoor air pollution exposures and related mortality, plus an update of air quality measurements in 1600 cities from all regions of the world.
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