Billions of people still breathe unhealthy air: WHO 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that practically the entire world population (99%) breaths air that exceeds WHO air quality limits, endangering their health. World Health Day 2022 is marked in countries around the world on Thursday, April 7, 2022 with the theme "Our planet, our health." According to the findings, even modest amounts of air pollution can be harmful to human health. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately 13 million people die each year due to preventable environmental causes around the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared that World Health Day, which marks on April 7th, will draw global attention on the urgent steps required to keep humans and the planet healthy, as well as build a movement to foster societies that emphasize well-being.

"The importance of hastening the transition to cleaner, healthier energy systems is highlighted by current energy issues... "High fossil fuel costs, energy security, and the urgent need to address the health concerns of air pollution and climate change underline the urgent need to move faster toward a world that is considerably less dependent on fossil fuels," said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

People in low and middle-income countries are exposed to the highest levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. A record number of over 6000 cities in 117 countries are now monitoring air quality, but people are still breathing unhealthy levels of fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.

The findings of the World Health Organization's air quality database's 2022 updates that for the first time, ground measurements of annual mean concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a prevalent urban pollutant and precursor of particulate matter and ozone, are included. It also includes measurements of particulate matter with a diameter of 10 m or less (PM10) or 2.5 m (PM2.5) (PM2.5). Both forms of pollution are mostly caused by human activities such as fossil fuel combustion.

The new air quality database is the most comprehensive yet in terms of ground-level air pollution exposure. In comparison to the previous update, 2,000 more cities/human settlements are now recording ground monitoring data for particulate matter, PM10 and/or PM2.5. Since the database's inception in 2011, there has been an almost 6-fold increase in reporting.

Particulate matter, notably PM2.5, has the ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and into the circulation, resulting in cardiovascular, cerebrovascular (stroke), and respiratory effects. There is mounting evidence that particulate matter has an effect on other organs and causes other diseases as well .

NO2 is related to respiratory diseases, particularly asthma, which can result in respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, wheezing, or difficulty breathing), hospitalizations, and emergency department visits.

Last year, the World Health Organization (WHO) amended its Air Quality Guidelines to make them more strict in order to enable countries to properly assess the healthiness of their local air.