The [b]World Health Organisation[/b] estimates that 7m people died as a result of air pollution in 2012, which suggest a link between air pollution and heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer, reports [s]BBC News[/s]. One in eight global deaths were linked with air pollution, making it ‘the world's largest single environmental health risk’, the WHO said. Nearly 6m of the deaths had been in South East Asia and the WHO’s Western Pacific region.
The WHO said about 3.3m people had died as a result of indoor air pollution and 2.6m deaths were related to outdoor air pollution, mainly in low- and middle-income countries. The report quotes [b]Dr Maria Neira, director, WHO Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health[/b], as saying: ‘The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes.'
[i]Laws banning smoking in North American and European public places have had a positive impact on child health, suggests an international study[/i]. [s]BBC News[/s] reports that researchers from the [b]University of[/b] Edinburgh, Maastricht University, Hasselt University in Belgium, Harvard Medical School and [b]Brigham and Women's Hospital[/b], who analysed 11 previous studies from North America and Europe, found a 10% reduction in premature births and severe childhood asthma attacks within a year of smoke-free laws being introduced. [b]Dr Jasper Been[/b], from the Maastricht University Medical Centre, said: ‘Our study provides clear evidence that smoking bans have considerable public health benefits for perinatal and child health, and provides strong support for WHO recommendations to create smoke-free public environments on a national level.’ The study also found a 5% decline in children being born very small for their age.
[link url=http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26730178]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url=http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/FINAL_HAP_AAP_BoD_24March2014.pdf?ua=1]WHO data[/link]
[link url=http://www.bbc.com/news/health-26770009]Full BBC News report[/link]
[link url=http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60082-9/abstract]Research summary[/link]
[link url=http://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(14)70025-7/fulltext]The Lancet study in full[/link]