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Children under 15 at serious risk from polluted air: WHO
Why is it in news?
- Every day about 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 (1.8 billion children) breathe polluted air that puts their health and development at serious risk, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said in a new report
- It puts into numbers the devastating impact that air pollution is having on the global population’s health.
- Tragically, many of these children die, with as many as six lakh estimated to have perished in 2016 alone due to complications from acute lower respiratory infections caused by dirty air, according to WHO’s report.
- The report on air pollution and child health released on the eve of the WHO’s first ever global conference on Air Pollution and Health reveals that when pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely, and have small, low birth-weight children.
- Air pollution also impacts neurodevelopment and cognitive ability and can trigger asthma, and childhood cancer.
- Children exposed to high levels of air pollution may be at greater risk for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease later in life, the WHO said.
Impacts of air pollution
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Source
The Hindu