98% children in India ‘exposed’ to toxic air
New Delhi, October 29
About 98 per cent of children under the age of five in low- and middle-income countries, which include nations like India, were exposed to air pollution caused by finer particulate matters in 2016, according to a World Health Organisation study released on Monday.
In the report, ‘Air Pollution and Child Health: Prescribing Clean Air’, deaths of about 600,000 children under 15 years of age in 2016 were attributed to the joint effects of ambient and household air pollution.
The report said household air pollution from cooking and ambient air pollution caused more than 50 per cent of acute lower respiratory infections in children under five years of age in low- and middle-income countries.
The WHO report examines the heavy toll of both ambient (outside) and household air pollution on the health of the children across world, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, like India.
“In low- and middle-income countries around the world, 98% of all children under 5 are exposed to PM2.5 levels above WHO guidelines,” the study says. — PTI
