The report which was released on Tuesday, September 27, revealed that 92 percent of people live in surroundings where the air quality exceeds the limits of WHO blaming millions of deaths yearly on the worldwide air pollution crisis.
The report which was released on Tuesday, September 27, revealed that 92 percent of people live in surroundings where the air quality exceeds the limits of WHO blaming millions of deaths yearly on the worldwide air pollution crisis.
"Some three million deaths a year are linked to exposure to outdoor air pollution," the UN body said in the report, which was based on data from 3,000 sites across the world.
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"Indoor air pollution can be just as deadly. In 2012, an estimated 6.5 million deaths (11.6 percent of all global deaths) were associated with indoor and outdoor air pollution together," the UN body stated in a report.
The report which was based on a data from 3,000 sites worldwide stated that almost all of the air pollution-related deaths are due to diseases like cardiovascular illnesses, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
According to the report, 90 percent of the deaths reportedly occurred in low and middle-income countries, with nearly two-thirds of them occurring in WHO's Southeast Asia and Western Pacific regions.
"Air pollution continues to take a toll on the health of the most vulnerable populations - women, children and the older adults," the assistant director-general at WHO Flavia Bustreo has said.
The WHO Experts say, the problem is most acute in cities, but air in rural areas is worse than many think.
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Head of the WHO’s department of health and environment Maria Neira said pollution "affects practically all countries in the world and all parts of society".
"Fast action to tackle air pollution can't come soon enough," she added.
Marie Neira urged governments to regulate the number of vehicles on roads, improve waste management and promote clean cooking fuel as well as renewable energies and industrial emissions reductions.
