According to the 2018 WHO report titled Air Pollution and Child Health: Prescribing clean air, 93% of the world’s children are exposed daily to environments with levels of air pollution that have crossed WHO guidelines. The report summarises the latest findings related to air pollution and children’s health. It also highlights the broader implications of air pollution and related risks on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
The report states that low- and middle-income countries deal with higher levels of air pollution, particularly household air pollution, in comparison to the high-income countries. Thus, poverty levels share a high degree of correlation with greater exposure to environmental health risks. Poverty compounds the adverse impacts of air pollution vis-à-vis limited access to information, health care treatment and other resources.
In 2014, the WHO-issued Guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion were the first to define particular heating, lighting and cooking technologies and fuels as clean at the point of use. These included electricity, liquefied petroleum gas, biogas, ethanol and solar stoves, some high-performing biomass stoves etc. The use of unprocessed coal and kerosene was discouraged due to their hazardous impact on health. However, kerosene is still used for lighting purposes in countries like India, by those who do not have access to electricity. An updated version of the threshold limits set by the WHO air quality guidelines that must be met in order to protect the health of individuals will be published in 2020.
Poverty compels people to rely upon such polluting sources of energy for their basic needs as well as limits their abilities to improve their environment for the benefit of their children’s health. Thus, household air pollution is a chronic problem in resource-poor settings, characterised by poor-quality and temporary housing. In such a context, the achievement of universal access to clean and safe household energy is reflected on the global sustainable development agenda, under Goal 7 i.e. “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.
The government and other relevant actors can adopt multiple proven solutions for reduction in ambient and household air pollution the government like: reducing over-dependence on fossil fuels in the global energy mix, investing in improving energy efficiency, cleaner transport, energy-efficient housing and urban planning, low- or zero-emission power generation, cleaner and safer industrial technologies as well as facilitating the uptake of renewable energy sources. Community-level air pollution can be reduced by better municipal waste management methods that reduce the burning of waste. Such shifts need to eventually lead to the exclusive use of clean technologies and fuels for household cooking, heating and lighting activities, in order to drastically improve the air quality within homes and in the surrounding community.
Curbing air pollution levels is interconnected with multiple other SDGs that encompass targets related to alleviation of poverty and the protection of environment and health: ensuring healthy lives for all (SDG 3), making cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable (SDG 11) and combatting climate change (SDG 13). Reducing the exposure of children to pollutants can help avoid disease, reduce mortality and improve their health and well-being. Estimates suggest that climate change will be responsible for 2,50,000 deaths annually by 2030. The same pollutants (black carbon, ozone) that cause air pollution are also agents of global warming and interventions that reduce their emissions will benefit both, the climate and children’s health.
Thus, the implementation of evidence-based policies and practices that protect children’s health from the undermining effects of air pollution is essential to the realisation of the 2030 sustainable development agenda.
India Outbound
December 11, 2018
source https://indiaoutbound.org/a-childs-right-to-breathe-safe-air-part-2/
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