According to the latest WHO report, 90% of the planet’s children are breathing toxic air which has a considerably negative impact on their intelligence, as well as on their respiratory systems, causing millions of deaths worldwide. As the report said, about 90% of the world’s children, about 1.8 billion kids around the globe, are inhaling polluted air.
“Polluted air is poisoning millions of children and ruining their lives. This is inexcusable – every child should be able to breathe clean air so they can grow and fulfill their potential,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom, WHO director general.
The new report comes out right in the same period when the first global conference on the impact of polluted air on human health is just about to commence in Geneve, Switzerland. Now, the WHO study found that children are the most affected by toxic air as their still-developing organs and nervous system are exposed to long-term damages.
90 Percent of the World’s Children Are Breathing Toxic Air, According to The Latest WHO Report
“Air pollution is stunting our children’s brains, affecting their health in more ways than we suspected,” also said Dr. Maria Neira from the WHO.
According to the report, about 600,000 children around the world die from acute lower respiratory infections triggered by polluted air. Also, more than 90% of the world’s children are exposed to damaging pollutants such as PM2.5. Even worse, about 98% of the kids living in poor countries are breathing air with high levels of PM2.5.
“The moral and practical case for urgent, bold and far-reaching action to reduce emissions, including calling an end to the fossil fuel era, is now utterly irrefutable,” said Mark Watts, CEO at C40 Cities group.
“The solutions are a basic public health agenda that will have plenty of benefits for public health and the environment. No matter what else, we know that we need to decarbonize our society sooner rather than later and the benefits of that for our health and our economy are indisputable,” concluded Dr. Maria Neirs from the WHO.
Vadim is a passionate writer on various topics but especially on stuff related to health, technology, and science. Therefore, for Great Lakes Ledger, Vadim will cover health and Sci&Tech news.