Air pollution is a public health emergency that is killing seven million people every year and seriously damaging the health of many more, according to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization writing in The Guardian on Saturday.
Tedros ended his piece by saying that the world had turned the corner on tobacco. Now it had to do the same for the ‘new tobacco’: the toxic air that billions breathed every day.
‘Despite this epidemic of needless, preventable deaths and disability, a smog of complacency pervades the planet,’ Tedros said. ‘This is a defining moment and we must scale up action to urgently respond to this challenge.
‘The bald truth is that bad air quality puts the health of billions at risk from the simple act of breathing. The World Health Organization estimates nine in 10 people globally breathe polluted, toxic air.
‘Filthy air is a health risk at every stage of life. Exposure to air pollution during pregnancy can damage a developing baby’s vital organs including the brain, heart and lungs and lead to a range of conditions including asthma, heart disease and cancers.
‘Air pollution also negatively affects brain development during childhood, lowering children’s chances of success in school and employment possibilities later in life.’
Tedros said that the WHO was due shortly [October 30-November 1] to host in Geneva, Switzerland, the first global conference on air pollution and health, where leaders would chart next steps for future action to cut air pollution in their countries.
Mutual assured destruction
