NEW YORK: Unhealthy environments – both inside and outside the home – cause the deaths of more than 1.7 million child under the age of five every year, according to two new reports released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Monday. Even in their own homes, many children in developing countries have neither clean air to breathe nor clean water to drink, the reports found. For some children, exposure to toxins comes because they work in unsafe jobs such as tobacco farming or recycling. One way to address the environmental pollutants that children are exposed to is through ensuring that households have access to clean fuels, Neira told IPS. A second report titled, “Inheriting a Sustainable World: Atlas on Children’s Health and the Environment” found that many of these deaths are preventable through addressing their environmental causes, including through access to safe water and clean cooking fuels.

Source: Manila Times March 08, 2017 16:54 UTC