Air Pollution Now More Dangerous to Africa Than Unsafe Water or Child Malnutrition Combined
Air pollution is costing Africa about $395bn (USD) in human and economic costs and taking about 712,000 lives annually, making it a worse cause of premature deaths than childhood malnutrition responsible for 391,000 deaths and unsafe water that kills 275,000 annually. This is according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in a recent report.
There was a 36 per cent increase in annual deaths resulting from outdoor pollution and only 18 per cent increase for deaths resulting from indoor pollution between 1990 and 2013, indicating that outdoor pollution is a huge concern since it was growing at a very high pace. However, the economic cost of premature air pollution deaths resulting from outdoor pollution was estimated at $215bn annually in 2013 while that from indoor pollution was $232bn annually.
Nina Hale