Post by bhushraislam145 on Mar 3, 2024 22:17:37 GMT -8
Nearly 1,800 boys and girls under 15 years of age breathe contaminated air that seriously endangers their health and growth. This is a highly dangerous figure since according to the World Health Organization (WHO), this is the reason why many children die. According to their estimates, 600 thousand children died in 2016 due to acute respiratory infections, caused by contaminated air. In the report issued by the organization called Air Pollution and Child Health , it was reported that exposure to polluted air can cause pregnant women to give birth prematurely and cause newborns to be smaller and have low weight. WHO estimates say that 600,000 children died in 2016 due to acute respiratory infections. Tweet this sentence. In addition, toxic air also affects the neurological development and cognitive ability of children; a problem that can have serious consequences such as asthma and cancer. It is worth mentioning that children who have been exposed to high levels of pollution are at greater risk of contracting chronic infections, such as cardiovascular diseases, later in life. For Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO, “polluted air poisons millions of children and is ruining their lives. We can't allow it. All children should breathe clean air to grow and develop fully.
Why are children the most affected by pollution? The little ones suffer the effects of air pollution to a greater extent, since they breathe faster than adults, therefore they absorb more pollutants. They live closer to the ground, where some pollutants reach maximum concentrations at a time when their body and brain are developing. Newborns and young children are more vulnerable to polluted air in homes where polluting fuels and technologies are used for cooking, heating and home lighting. For Dr. María Neira, Director of the WHO Department of Public Health, Environment Europe Cell Phone Number List and Social Determinants of Health, "air pollution prevents children from developing normally and has greater negative effects on their health than we suspected." . Fortunately, we have several very simple measures to reduce emissions of dangerous pollutants." She also explained that the WHO is also helping to implement pro-health policies, such as encouraging the adoption of clean fuels and technologies for cooking and heating homes, promoting polluting means of transportation, energy efficiency of housing and urban planning. "We are preparing the ground to generate energy with fewer emissions, use safer and less polluting industrial technologies and better manage urban waste." Some conclusions from the report presented: Air pollution affects neurological development, as indicated by the results of cognitive tests, and hinders psychological and motor development.
Air pollution harms children's lung function, even at low levels of exposure. 93% of the world's children under 18 years of age – including 630 million children under 5 years of age and 1.8 billion children under 15 years of age – are exposed to levels of environmental fine particles (PM2.5) above those set out in the WHO air quality guidelines. In low- and middle-income countries around the world, 98% of children under 5 years of age breathe air with PM2.5 levels higher than those established in these guidelines, while this percentage is 52% in countries high income. More than 40% of the world's population – including 1 billion children under 15 years of age – is exposed to high levels of air pollution at home, mainly due to the use of polluting cooking technologies and fuels. In 2016, around 600,000 children under 15 years of age died due to the combined effects of environmental and domestic air pollution. Together, household air pollution from cooking fuels and air pollution from the outdoor environment cause more than 50% of acute lower respiratory tract infections in children under 5 years of age living in countries middle and low income. Air pollution is one of the main threats to children's health and causes almost 1 in 10 deaths in children under five years of age.