The report reveals that air pollution contributed to the deaths of more than 700,000 people in 2021. children under the age of five. Of these, up to half a million deaths were linked to indoor air pollution, where meals are cooked over open fires – a problem that mainly affects households in Asia and Africa.
Continuation of the material below the video
Malnutrition is the leading cause of death among children worldwide, but air pollution is quickly rising to second place. — Nearly 2,000 every day. children under five are dying from health effects linked to air pollution, warns Kitty van der Heijden, deputy executive director of UNICEF.
The report also indicates that air pollution can have a negative impact on health even in the prenatal period. Due to their weight, young children are more likely to absorb pollutants than adults. According to UNICEF, one in five children worldwide dies from pneumonia and asthma is the most common chronic respiratory disease among older children.
The report says the death rate from air pollution is 100 times higher in African countries than in the Global North, revealing desperate inequalities in global health.
But despite these grim statistics, the report also highlights some progress. Since 2000, the under-five mortality rate has fallen by more than half, thanks to cleaner energy, better medical care and increased health awareness.
In 2021, air pollution caused more than 8 million deaths worldwide.
![Tram collision in Dąbrowa, landslide in Zdrowie and flooding in Bałuty. A difficult start to the weekend in Łódź and its surroundings [ZDJĘCIA] – Lodz News](https://storage.googleapis.com/patrykslezak-pbem/tulodz/articles/image/93317096-e025-46ee-9ec7-3fa1b291ec5b)