| ■ Environmental Improvements Could Save 13 Million Lives a Year: WHO | 07.06.20 |
| Reducing indoor air pollution and improving sanitation are among the environmental improvements that could save 13 million lives worldwide each year, concludes a report released Wednesday by the World Health Organization. Environmental health hazards threaten the lives of people in all countries, but have a much more significant impact in poor nations. In poorer nations, people lose 20 times more healthy years of life than people in richer nations. The document noted that poor sanitation and indoor air pollution caused by solid fuels used for cooking and heating account for 10 percent of deaths in 23 countries. Children under age 5 are especially vulnerable to environmental risk factors. For example, children in that age group account for about 74 percent of all deaths from diarrhea caused by poor water and sanitation. Climate change, ultraviolet radiation, damage to agriculture, and workplace hazards (including exposure to chemicals) are among other environmental causes of death cited by the WHO, Bloomberg reported. |