Development, Air Pollution Exposure and Population Health: An Overview of Status and Trends in Developing Asia

Abstract:

The most recent estimates from WHO’s Global Burden of Disease project indicate that developing Asia accounts for nearly two-thirds of the estimated 800,000 deaths and 4.6 million lost years of healthy life caused worldwide by exposure to urban air pollution in 2000 (WHO, 2002). In rural areas and urban slums, indoor air pollution from burning solid fuels confers its own large burden of disease and contributes to increased outdoor levels in some locales. Developing Asia’s contribution to global climate-forcing emissions has grown as well, and is projected to continue to increase, with consequences for human health in the region that are difficult to quantify, but likely to be substantial. As countries in Asia develop and prioritize expenditures and strategies to improve public health, it is necessary to both describe the magnitude of air pollution-related health impacts and to identify likely trends in air pollution and air pollution related disease for the future. Asia is undergoing economic development at a phenomenal rate. This development, combined with urbanization, is linked directly to levels of urban air pollution. Economic and social development is also transforming the demographic and epidemiologic characteristics of the population in ways that affect their vulnerability to air pollution related health effects. Underlying these broad trends within Asia is considerable variation between and within countries with regard to the current level and pace of economic and social development, and in the status and trends in factors that determine air quality, human exposure and its health impacts. In HEI’s review, Urban Outdoor Air Pollution and Health in the Developing Countries of Asia: a Second Critical Review and Research Needs Assessment we assess these trends and their implications for health impacts of air pollution in developing Asia. We will present a broad overview, based on this assessment, of status and trends in air pollution sources, emissions, concentrations and exposure, as well as factors related to urban development, population health and public policy that set the context for the health effects of air pollution. Local examples will be highlighted to illustrate the underlying diversity among countries.