GENEVA: The World Health Organization said nearly 24 per cent of global disease is caused by avoidable environmental exposures. In a report Friday, the WHO also said more than 33 per cent of diseases among children under the age of five is caused by these environmental exposures.
The report, Preventing Disease Through Health Environments -- Towards an Estimate of the Environmental Burden of Disease, also estimates that more than 13 million deaths around the world annually are accounted for by preventable environmental hazards.
It said over 40 per cent of deaths from malaria and 94 per cent of deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, two of the biggest killer diseases among children, can be averted with better environmental management like improved access to clean water, better sanitary standards and less use of polluting fuels.
It said children in developing countries have been found to be most vulnerable, with environmental factors causing 25 per cent of all deaths compared with 17 per cent of all deaths in developed regions.
The report focuses on the environmental causes of disease and how various diseases are influenced by environmental factors. It also tries to understand how much death, illness and disability can be realistically avoided through better environmental management.
Dr Anders Nordstrom, acting director general of WHO, said the report is a major contribution to the ongoing efforts to better define the links between environment and health.
The major diseases caused by poor environmental conditions are diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, various forms of unintentional injuries and malaria. Measures that can be initiated to reduce the burden of these diseases include promotion of safe household water storage and better hygienic measures, use of cleaner and safer fuels, increased safety of the built environment, more judicious use and management of toxic substances in the home and workplace and better water resource management.
Maria Neira, director of WHO's department for public health and environment, said at a press conference that the onus is on diseases linked to the air we breathe, the water we drink and the chemicals we are exposed to. "Every year, 13 million deaths could be prevented.
"The report shows very clearly the gains that would accrue both to public health and to the general environment by a series of straightforward, coordinated investments,'' she added.
The report said among adults, indoor and outdoor air pollution is estimated to be responsible for 41 per cent of all lower respiratory infections. Industrial and workplace accidents are thought to be responsible for about 44 per cent of unintentional injuries not including road accidents.
While the developing world is severely affected by infectious diseases, environmental factors result in increased instances of cardiovascular disease and cancer in the developed world.
The report estimates that the number of healthy life years lost in some of the developed countries is seven times higher than in developing regions, while cancer rates were four times higher.
