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What is the News?
The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health has published “The Lancet Planetary Health Report”.
What are the key highlights from the report?
Global findings
Pollution was responsible for 9 million premature deaths in 2015 making it the world’s largest environmental risk factor for disease and premature death.
Ambient air pollution accounted for nearly 75% of all deaths with fatalities in China the highest at 1.8 million.
Reductions have occurred in the number of deaths attributable to the types of pollution associated with extreme poverty.
However, these reductions in deaths from household air pollution and water pollution are offset by increased deaths attributable to ambient air pollution and toxic chemical pollution.
More than 90% of pollution-related deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries.
Findings related to India
Pollution led to over 2.3 million (23 lakh) premature deaths in India in 2019, accounting for over a fourth of the nine million such fatalities worldwide.
Economic losses from modern forms of pollution — including ambient air and toxic chemicals —now amount to at least 1% of the country’s GDP.
India continued to account for the world’s largest estimated pollution-related deaths in 2019 — ahead of China.
Ambient air pollution alone may have led to nearly 1.7 million deaths in India in 2019. But fatalities attributed to traditional sources of pollution — indoor air and water — have dropped to less than half of the number compared to 2000.
Source: The post is based on the article “At 2.4 million in 2019, India led world in pollution deaths” published in TOI on 18th May 2022.
