Pollution kills 17 lakh children a year: WHO

Seventeen lakh children under five die every year across the globe owing to unhealthy or polluted environment, according to the World Health Organization. 

In Bangladesh, death of 179 children under five (in every 1 lakh people) can be attributed to environmental pollution, says the WHO.

This means the number of such deaths is 2.8 lakh a year if the country's population of 16 crore is taken into account.

The WHO yesterday released its findings in two reports -- “Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children's Health and the Environment”, and “Don't Pollute My Future! The Impact of the Environment on Children's Health”.

Talking to The Daily Star, Prof Abul Kalam Azad, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services, said, “Environmental pollution is a problem not only in Bangladesh but also in other countries in South and South East Asia.”

“In Bangladesh, the level of outdoor air pollution is high because of construction work and increasing number of vehicles. Besides, use of fossil fuel contributes to indoor air pollution.”

Mohammod Shahidullah, president of Bangladesh Paediatric Association, said many of the children suffer from various diseases linked to environmental pollution.

“It is high time the government gave more attention to child health.

“Sometimes, we find that the same patients, who face respiratory problems in Bangladesh, get better when they stay abroad.”

The first WHO report says, “A large portion of the most common causes of death among children aged one month to five years -- diarrhoea, malaria and pneumonia -- are preventable by interventions known to reduce environmental risks, such as access to safe water and clean cooking fuels.”

Globally, more than one in four deaths of children under five is attributable to unhealthy environment.

“Every year, environmental risks -- such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene -- take the lives of 1.7 million children under five years,” the WHO says.

In a statement on the WHO website, its Director-General Dr Margaret Chan said, “A polluted environment is a deadly one -- particularly for young children.

“Their developing organs and immune systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.”

The second report revealed that children are at an increased risk of diarrhoea and pneumonia in households without access to basic services, such as safe water and sanitation, or that are smoky due to the use of unclean fuels, such as coal or dung for cooking and heating.

“Children are also exposed to harmful chemicals through food, water, air and products around them. Chemicals, such as fluoride, lead and mercury pesticides, persistent organic pollutants, and others in manufactured goods, eventually find their way into the food chain,” it said.

The report said harmful exposures can start in the mother's womb and increase the risk of premature birth.

“Additionally, when infants and pre-schoolers are exposed to indoor and outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke, they have an increased risk of pneumonia in childhood, and a lifelong increased risk of chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma.”

It also said exposure to air pollution may also increase their lifelong risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

In the State of Global Air Report 2017 released last month, Dhaka ranked the second city in the world with the worst air pollution, which claims 122,400 lives in Bangladesh a year.

Bangladesh and India experienced the steepest increase in air pollution levels between 1990 and 2015, it said.

Air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death worldwide, and 92 percent of the world's population lives in areas with unhealthy air, mentions the report.