Warning: Pollution is killing more people than traffic accidents, three times more than AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria combined

Dr. Dr. Dinh Xuan Anh Tuan, Project Director of the Center for Respiratory Allergy, Clinical Immunology and Senior Advisor of Internal Medicine, European Representative of Vinmec International Hospital Chain affirmed: ''Pollution is terrible killer, killing even more people than traffic accidents; three times more than AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined."

Pollution is the biggest environmental threat to disease and premature death in the world. Illnesses caused by pollution in all its forms caused nine million deaths, or 16% of all deaths, worldwide in 2015.
Pollution causes more than twice as many deaths. times more than salty (high sodium) dietary causes (4.1 million), obesity (4.0 million), alcohol (2.3 million), traffic accidents (1.4 million), malnourished children and mothers (1.4 million).
Pollution-related deaths are more than three times higher than AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and five times more than war and all forms of war-related violence (such as terrorism ). Noncommunicable diseases account for about 71% of the total disease burden due to pollution.
Specifically, it can be said that all forms of pollution together account for 21% of all cardiovascular deaths, 23% of cerebrovascular deaths, 51% of all deaths. deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 43% of lung cancer deaths.
The relative risk of all pollution-related noncommunicable diseases increases as pollution exposure also increases.

Pollution causes many deaths among poor and vulnerable groups (because of the pre-existing chronic non-communicable diseases). Nearly 92% of pollution-related deaths occur in low- or middle-income countries.
In the worst-affected countries, pollution-related diseases account for more than 25% of deaths. In all countries, rich as well as poor, pollution-related diseases are most common among ethnic minorities and marginalized people (homelessness, long-term unemployment).
Children are at high risk for pollution-related diseases. Exposure to even very low levels of pollutants during infancy and childhood can cause illness, disability or even death in infancy or early childhood. rest of his life.
Despite its very adverse effects on human health, the economy and the environment, pollution is still a problem that governments, especially in low- and middle-income countries, do not care about. proper attention.
In particular, the health effects of pollution are greatly underestimated in global burden of disease calculations. Even in these countries, pollution from industrial emissions, vehicle emissions and toxic chemicals is not taken into account, especially in international development and global health programs.
Although more than 70% of pollution-related diseases are non-communicable diseases, anti-pollution interventions are only recently mentioned in the Global Plan of Action for the Prevention of NCDs.
Pollution is not only a cause of damage to human health but also a major cause of economic loss of all countries in the world, for the following reasons:
Diseases associated Pollution-related losses lead to productivity losses that reduce the gross domestic product (GDP) of a low- and middle-income country by up to 2% per year. These diseases also cause health costs, accounting for 1.7% of annual health spending in high-income countries and up to 7% of health costs in contaminated middle-income countries. heavy and growing rapidly. Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated at $4.6 trillion a year, or 6.2% of world economic output. The costs of pollution-related diseases tend to increase as new associations between pollution and disease are discovered. Pollution endangers the health of all mankind; It destroys ecosystems and is closely linked to global climate change. The burning of fossil fuels in high and middle income countries and the burning of biomass in low income countries account for 85% of air pollution and almost 100% of pollution caused by sulfur oxides and nitrogen. . It is also a significant cause of the greenhouse effect and short-term climate pollutants that cause climate change. The main sources of carbon dioxide emissions - chemical factories, mining, deforestation, and gasoline-powered vehicles - are also important sources of pollution. Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel in the world and the burning of coal is a major cause of pollution and climate change.
Cities, especially fast-growing cities in industrialized countries, are heavily affected by pollution. They account for 85% of global economic activity, and 55% of the world's population lives there: It's where people, energy consumption, construction, industry and transport are concentrated. The harmful effects of pollution on human health today are indisputable, but it is never too late to do good. The fight against pollution, on a planetary scale, is not only indispensable but vital to humanity.

Source: VTC News
Consulted by: Professor. Doctor. Doctor Dinh Xuan Anh Tuan
Professor. Dr. Dinh Xuan Anh Tuan is a leading expert in the French and European respiratory industry; is the Head of the Department of Respiratory Function Investigation at Cochin Hospital Paris, the First-year Medical Chair, the Head of the Department of "Physiology - Pharmacology - Toxicology" of the Institute of Medicine of the Paris Descartes Medical University. Rector of Corsica Medical College Institute.
Professor is also a critic and editor of many prestigious scientific journals in France and the world (ERJ - European Respiratory Journal, Editor-in-Chief), member of the Scientific Research Committee French National Research Institute CNRS, UK Lung Foundation, American Heart Association,...
In 2018, Professor Anh Tuan assumed the role of President of the European Respiratory Conference ERS, which gathered more than 20,000 people. Leading respiratory specialist worldwide held in Paris.
Currently, the professor is the Project Director of the Center for Respiratory Allergy, Clinical Immunology, and Senior Advisor for Internal Medicine, the European Representative of Vinmec International Hospital Chain.