So much about the myth of clean country air. In fact, nearly three-fifths of the total global exposure to particulate matter, one of the most ubiquitous air pollutants, occurs in the rural areas of developing countries. Worldwide, this translates into as many as three million deaths a year. As always seems to be the case, it is the world's poorest people who suffer most. Malnutrition, unsafe water and use of solid fuels indoors together cause over one quarter of all deaths in the least developed countries.
Children are of particular concern.
They are especially vulnerable to high levels of air pollution. A WHO Task Force on the Protection of Children's Environmental Health has been created to address these problems. Despite increasing knowledge about harmful health effects of air pollution, preventive action is often slow to follow. We'd like to provide them with a sound environmental policy framework and actions applicable to different settings and to different socio-economic conditions. In short, we'd like to provide them with a proper strategy to eliminate avoidable air pollutants and thus reduce this disease burden in a cost- effective way.