The estimates per country, the first of its kind, of the morbidity burden due to air pollution bring into focus the effects of the use of fuels on the health and well-being of the population around the world.
Among the 20 most affected countries cited in the report are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Uganda, DR Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo.
According to the results of the WHO research, pollution provokes in total 1.2 million annual deaths, for at world level, dependence on solid fuels is one of the most important threats to public health.
It was demonstrated that at world level, more than 3 billion people use solid fuels, namely biomass fuels (wood, cow dung and agricultural residues) and coal, to cook and for central heating.
"A link is established between the exposure to pollution within houses due to solid fuels and several diseases, in particular child pneumonia and chronic respiratory infections among adults", researchers highlighted. 1 May 2007 - PANA
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