According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday, India is one of the deadliest countries for children aged under five. The report states that 1.7 million lives are lost every year owing to contaminated water, lack of sanitation, bad hygiene practices, indoor and outdoor pollution as well as injuries that go unattended leading to deadly infections. 

The report called “Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and Environment”, also stated that the countries most affected by air pollution had access to remedial measures to mitigate the problem. “In 2015, 26% of the deaths of 5.9 million children who died before reaching their fifth birthday could have been prevented through addressing environmental risks – a shocking missed opportunity,” the report said.

The negligence to important health parameters also becomes a cause for diseases like diarrhoea, malaria, pneumonia, which can be prevented by improving access to clean water, clean cooking fuels and using insecticide-treated bed nets among many other measures, the report states.

“A polluted environment is a deadly one – particularly for young children,” said Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General in a press release issued by the WHO. “Their developing organs and immune systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water.”

Topping the list as the deadliest counties with environmental risks was China with an estimated 1 million deaths every year due to air pollution. More than 90 per cent of the world’s population is thought to breathe air that violates quality guidelines set by the WHO.According to a report released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday, India is one of the deadliest countries for children aged under five. The report states that 1.7 million lives are lost every year owing to contaminated water, lack of sanitation, bad hygiene practices, indoor and outdoor pollution as well as injuries that go unattended leading to deadly infections.