Bangladesh
Pollution 2.45 lakh Bangladeshis die annually due to pollution
Dhaka, March 29: Bangladesh has alarming levels of pollution and environmental health risks, which is disproportionately harming the poor, children under five years of age, elderly men and women. More than 2,72,000 people die prematurely due to pollution in the country every year. This information has emerged in a report of the World Bank.
According to the report published as 'The Bangladesh Country Environment Analysis', air pollution, unsafe water, poor sanitation and hygiene and lead pollution are the main causes of premature death. 17.6 percent of Bangladesh's GDP has been lost due to environment in 2019. Indoor and outdoor air pollution has the most detrimental effects on health, responsible for 55 percent of premature deaths and equivalent to 8.32 percent of GDP in 2019. This information was informed in a press release sent from Dhaka office of World Bank on Thursday (March 28).
World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan Abdullaye Sek said that addressing environmental risks is a development and economic priority for Bangladesh. We have seen in many countries of the world, economic growth at the expense of the environment cannot be sustainable.
He further said that Bangladesh cannot ignore the environment in any way to sustain a strong growth trajectory and improve the quality of life of people in cities and rural areas. Preventing environmental degradation and ensuring climate resilience are critical to achieving the goal of becoming an upper-middle income country.
According to the World Bank report, environmental pollution is having a serious impact on children. Lead poisoning is causing irreversible damage to children's brain development. This results in an estimated IQ loss of about 20 million points per year. Household cooking with wood fuel is one of the main sources of air pollution and it harms women and children more.
