93% of children breathe polluted air

By Ssebuliba Samuel.

A new world health report has revealed that over 93% of the world’s children under the age of 15 years breathe air that is so polluted that affect their health and development at serious risk.

WHO estimates that in 2016, 600,000 children died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.

The report reveals that when pregnant women are exposed to polluted air, they are more likely to give birth prematurely, and have small, low birth-weight children.

According to Dr Tedros Adhanom the WHO Director-General this so because children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution is that they breathe more rapidly than adults and so absorb more pollutants.

He said that these also live closer to the ground, where some pollutants reach peak concentrations at a time when their brains and bodies are still developing.

WHO’s First Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health, which opens in Geneva today will provide the opportunity for world leaders; ministers of health and others to commit to act against this serious health threat

Written by David Kugonza