Lancet Commission 2017: Pollution and Health
2017
This Lancet Commission report describes the impact of environmental pollution on human health, identifying it as the leading environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today. It notes that diseases caused by pollution—including noncommunicable diseases such as asthma, cancer, neurodevelopmental disorders, and birth defects in children; along with heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and cancer in adults—were responsible for approximately 9 million premature deaths in 2015. This represents three times more deaths than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined, and 15 times more than from all wars and other forms of violence. Pollution, particularly that caused by industrial emissions, vehicle exhaust, and toxic chemicals, has increased dramatically in the past five centuries, with the largest recent increases in low- and middle-income countries that are experiencing rapid urbanization, increased demand for energy and petroleum-powered transportation, a rise in mining and deforestation, and heavier use of toxic chemicals, insecticides, and herbicides.
The Commission utilizes current findings from the Global Burden of Disease, most recently updated with 2016 data and released in September 2017. It articulates the burden of disease attributable to pollution, calculates the economic costs of pollution and pollution-related disease, describes the relationships between pollution-related disease, poverty, and the Sustainable Development Goals, and offers effective interventions against pollution, with specific priorities, solutions, and benefits.
Lancet Commission 2017: Pollution and Health
Source:
Landrigan PJ et al. The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health. The Lancet 2017. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32345-0.