Pollution was responsible for the premature death of nine million people in 2019, according to a study. The balance sheet did not improve compared to 2015, mainly due to poor air quality and chemical pollutants, in particular lead.
Four years after a first report, the situation has not changed: about one in six premature deaths in the world is linked to pollution, deplores the commission on pollution and health of the journal Lancet, in which was published the study on Wednesday.
Pollution and waste created by humans released into the air, water and soil rarely kill directly, but cause serious heart disease, cancer, respiratory problems or acute diarrhea. “The health effects remain enormous and low- and middle-income countries are bearing the brunt of them,” summarizes lead author and co-director of the commission Richard Fuller.
They account for 92% of these deaths and most of the resulting economic losses. “Attention and funding have increased only marginally since 2015, despite a well-documented increase in public concern about pollution and its health effects,” he laments, quoted in a statement. .
like tobacco
While premature deaths linked to the types of pollution associated with extreme poverty are falling, those linked to air pollution and pollution by chemical products are increasing. “The effect of pollution on health is still far greater than that of war, terrorism, malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, drugs and alcohol, and the number of deaths caused by pollution rivals that caused by tobacco”, it is underlined.