Nearly 2,000 children die every day due to health problems caused by air pollution, according to a report presented on Wednesday by the American research institute Health Effects Institute.
In 2021, a total of 8.1 million people died as a result of air pollution, the report states. This corresponds to approximately twelve per cent of all deaths. Air pollution is thus the second highest risk factor for premature death. Only high blood pressure is a greater risk.
Small children are particularly sensitive to air pollution, and a total of 700,000 children under the age of five died due to it, according to the report. Over 500,000 of the deaths were due to indoor cooking with coal or wood, mainly in Africa and Asia.
This is a problem that we know we can solve, says Pallavi Pant, global health chief at Health Effects Institute, to the AFP news agency.
