As world leaders gather for COP22, UNICEF publishes a study on these diseases largely linked to air pollution.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) published this Friday a new report alarming about childhood diseases. We discover that each year, pneumonia and diarrhea kill 1.4 million children, most of them living in poor countries.
Pneumonia in particular is the deadliest infectious disease in children under five. It caused the death of almost a million children in 2015, or about one child every 35 seconds, more than malaria, tuberculosis, measles and AIDS combined.
According to Unicef, more than half of child deaths from pneumonia are linked to air pollution, a fact that world leaders should bear in mind during the ongoing discussions on climate change on the occasion. of COP22.
“Air pollution is a major contributor to the deaths of some 600,000 children under the age of five every year and threatens the lives and futures of millions more every day,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. Pollutants don’t just damage children’s lungs, they can also cross the blood-brain barrier and permanently damage their developing brains. Their future will be compromised. No society can afford to ignore pollution,” he adds.
34 million children dead since 2000
Nearly 300 million children currently live in areas where outdoor air pollution is at least six times higher than international limits. In total, about 2 billion children live in areas that exceed the average annual limit of 10 μg/m3 set by the World Health Organization.
Like pneumonia, diarrhea in many cases in children can be linked to low rainfall due to climate change. Lack of access to safe water puts children at greater risk of contracting diarrheal diseases and impairing their physical and cognitive growth.
“The deaths of these children are occurring despite the fact that both diseases are largely preventable with simple, cost-effective solutions such as exclusive breastfeeding, vaccination, quality primary health care and reducing air pollution. inside homes,” insists UNICEF.
Nearly 34 million children have died from pneumonia and diarrhea since 2000. UNICEF estimates that without additional investment in essential prevention measures and treatment, 24 million more children will die from pneumonia or diarrhea by 2030.
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