More than 12.6 Million People Are Killed by Pollution Each Year

The World Health Organization sends a strong warning to everyone as the number of deaths caused by pollution continues to rise. Living and working in unhealthy and polluted environments takes the lives of an estimate of 12.6 million each year.

Since the end of World War II, we have been placing our lives and the environment in danger. All the chemicals, toxic substances, and waste products we’ve been adding into our bodies of water, the air, and our lands are continuously piling up.

The alarming deaths

According to the WHO, exposure to pollution led to deaths from non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer which now makes up 8.2 million or almost two-thirds of the total deaths. Likewise, poor sanitation and lack of water resulted in deaths from infectious diseases which include malaria and diarrhea making up one-third of the total deaths.

In these deaths, most happen in the elderly and children five years of age and below. In children, most deaths were caused by respiratory infections and diarrheal diseases. In the elderly, most deaths were due to cardiovascular problems such as stroke and heart disease.

Who are affected?

Air, water, and land pollution are serious environmental problems that affect everyone in all parts of the world. It’s happening in South-East Asia, Western Pacific Region, Africa, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean Region, and America – with the low- and middle-income Asian countries that serve as prime manufacturing hubs as the worst affected.

(World Health Organization)

What can we do?

If we continue to pollute our environment, if we don’t make even little effort to address the alarming condition or our environment, we are plotting our early deaths. Like what WHO Director-General Margaret Chan said, “If countries do not take actions to make environments where people live and work healthy, millions will continue to become ill and die too young.”

According to WHO, placing more focus on environmental and social risk factors can prevent nearly a quarter of diseases experienced worldwide. Prevention can be done by promoting safe water storage, improved hygiene measures, and safer management of toxic substances at workplaces and homes along with the help of energy, agriculture, and other sectors.

Let’s help spread environmental awareness to prevent environment-related deaths from now on!