According to the latest report "State of Global Air", in Serbia a total of 12.000 deaths per year are attributed to pollution of air PM 2,5 particles, while a total of 14.100 deaths per year are attributed to all pollutants monitored.
Per 100.000 inhabitants in Serbia, that is a rate of 96,2 deaths attributed to air pollution, while according to the same report the rate per 100.000 inhabitants in Western Europe is far lower: 15,2 deaths attributed to air pollution, writes for the Klima 101 portal prim. Dr. Elizabet Paunović.
The reason for this is primarily the drastically higher pollution with PM 2,5 particles. In Serbia, the average annual PM 2,5 value of 19,3 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3) is many times higher than the recommended value World Health Organization (WHO) of 5 µg/m3, which is considered safe for human health.
On the other hand, the average annual value for Western European countries is 9,91 µg/m3.
A new report was released a few weeks ago and analyzes data up to 2023. The global state of the air is one of the biggest public health problems, and the entire population in Serbia is exposed to high values of PM 2,5 particles.
But although the entire population is exposed to pollution, that pollution does not affect all age groups equally.
The highest burden of diseases caused by polluted air, and consequently premature deaths, is recorded in older age groups over 60 years old. This occurs because it takes decades for non-communicable diseases to develop due to long-term exposure to polluted air.
However, as the estimates in the Global State of the Air report show, pollution is dangerous and a half newborns: it is estimated that air pollution is responsible for 25% of all neonatal deaths in Serbia.
How does air pollution affect infant mortality?
Neonatal deaths occur from birth to the end of the first month of life, and these are obviously not long-term processes like in the elderly.
Neonatal deaths are estimated only for PM 2,5 particles and for household air pollution, or for the two factors together, as exposures to other pollutants are not relevant.
Neonatal outcomes include mostly complications due to low birth weight (low birth weight as a cause of death), premature (premature) birth, and lower respiratory tract infections.
Polluted air has a particularly negative effect on all children up to 5 years of age, but deaths are more frequent in the neonatal period, because in the first month of life, newborns are particularly sensitive to all influences from environment, including the action of pollutants from polluted air due to the immaturity of the immune system.
In this context, the quality of the air in the space where the newborn is staying is very important, where there are particularly harmful environments with high concentrations of pollutants due to the use of solid fuels.
In addition, neonatal deaths due to air pollution are also affected by the exposure of pregnant women to air pollution during pregnancy, which leads to low birth weight, premature birth, and congenital anomalies, all of which increase the risk of neonatal death.
Therefore, we can conclude that the risk in newborns is higher than in children up to 5 years of age, because it is a combination of influences both before and immediately after birth.
A new report also reveals the impact of air pollution on dementia and Alzheimer's disease
This year, at the global level, polluted air is the second risk factor for the occurrence of chronic diseases, right after high blood pressure, and ahead of the effects of tobacco smoke.
Air pollution is the cause of 7,9 million deaths annually worldwide.
The biggest news in this year's "State of the Global Air" report is that for the first time there is enough published scientific literature to confirm the connection between exposure to air pollution and the onset of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as the ability to attribute the relative risk of air pollution to the onset of these diseases.
In 2023, the year analyzed in this report, air pollution was attributed to 626.000 deaths globally from dementia and Alzheimer's disease, as well as 11,6 million healthy years of life lost.
The report describes the negative effects on the brain in more detail than before and for all ages, because the amount and reliability of published scientific literature made it possible.
In Serbia, in addition to 25% of neonatal deaths, of all deaths due to ischemic heart disease, 22% is attributed to polluted air, 19% when it comes to ischemic stroke, 18% from diabetes, 23% from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and 16% from lung cancer.
Serbia must deal more seriously with health risks from polluted air
I can only state that it is an inestimable pity that the Law on Public Health is not implemented in Serbia, as well as the Strategy and Action Plan adopted for the implementation of this law, which recognized the need for our institutions to perform health risk assessments from polluted air using the same methodology used for the "Global State of Air" report.
It is necessary to integrate health risk assessment into all activities, because risks can only be managed if they are first assessed, while otherwise health risks (from polluted air) are not under control. The first step in managing any risk, including health risks from polluted air, is its assessment.
These risks are not systematically assessed in Serbia.
In this regard, I would like to single out two recommendations that are very important from the point of view of public health. It is necessary to introduce mandatory annual publication of public health reports on the assessment of health risks from polluted air, in accordance with the Law on Public Health and the Public Health Strategy of the Republic of Serbia 2018-2026 with the Action Plan.
During the development of local air quality plans and in other relevant processes, the Public Health Councils in cooperation with competent institutes and institutes are obliged to carry out risk assessment, analysis and exchange of information with interested parties, as well as to take measures for risk management, prevention and reduction of negative impacts on health. For these purposes, the methodology of the World Health Organization can be used (eg AirQ+ software, which is free and available to everyone).
It is also necessary to develop an open system for displaying measurement results from all measuring stations in real time, with an overview of aggregated data that can be instantly compared with prescribed limit values (the number of hourly and daily limit values exceeded on an annual basis), including industrial measurements that are currently unavailable to the public, as well as a system for automatically issuing warnings with public health advice for citizens in the event of exceeding the limit value.
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