WHO statistics: 1.7 million child deaths per year

Every year, environmental risks – such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene – take the lives of 1.7 million children under 5 years, say two new WHO reports.

The first report, Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and the Environment reveals that a large portion of the most common causes of death among children aged 1 month to 5 years – diarrhea, malaria and pneumonia – are preventable by interventions known to reduce environmental risks, such as access to safe water and clean cooking fuels.

Harmful exposures can start in the mother’s womb and increase the risk of premature birth. Additionally, when infants and preschoolers are exposed to indoor and outdoor air pollution and second-hand smoke they have an increased risk of pneumonia in childhood, and a lifelong increased risk of chronic respiratory diseases, such as asthma. Exposure to air pollution may also increase their lifelong risk of heart disease, stroke and cancer.

Top 5 causes of death in children under 5 years linked to the ENVIRONMENT

 

A companion report, Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health, provides a comprehensive overview of the environment’s impact on children’s health, illustrating the scale of the challenge.

Respiratory infections deaths: 70 000 children under 5 years. Diseases related to poor access to clean water and sanitation: 361 000 children under 5 years.  Deaths related to poor access to hygiene and health facilities: 270 000 children die during their first month of life. Environmental actions (malaria): 200 000 deaths of children under 5 years.

Ongoing and emerging environmental threats to children’s health

Emerging environmental hazards, such as electronic and electrical waste (such as old mobile phones) that is improperly recycled, expose children to toxins which can lead to reduced intelligence, attention deficits, lung damage, and cancer. The generation of electronic and electrical waste is forecasted to increase by 19% between 2014 and 2018, to 50 million metric tones by 2018.

With climate change, temperatures and levels of carbon dioxide are rising, favoring pollen growth which is associated with increased rates of asthma in children. Worldwide, 11–14% of children aged 5 years and older currently report asthma symptoms and an estimated 44% of these are related to environmental exposures. Air pollution, second-hand tobacco smoke, and indoor mold and dampness make asthma more severe in children.