World Health Organisation: 99% of global population breathes poor-quality air

The WHO on Monday issued an update to its database on air quality that draws on information from a growing number of cities, towns, and villages across the globe— now totalling more than 6,000 municipalities

“After surviving a pandemic, it is unacceptable to still have seven million preventable deaths and countless preventable lost years of good health due to air pollution,” said Dr Maria Neira, head of the WHO’s department of environment, climate change and health.

The UN health agency says nearly everybody in the world breathes air that doesn’t meet its standards for air quality, calling for more action to reduce fossil-fuel use, which generates pollutants that cause respiratory and blood-flow problems and lead to millions of preventable deaths each year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO), about six months after tightening its guidelines on air quality, on Monday issued an update to its database on air quality that draws on information from a growing number of cities, towns, and villages across the globe — now totalling more than 6,000 municipalities.