Pollution is killing millions of people worldwide and, not surprisingly, India has topped the list in 2015, with 2.51 million people dying prematurely due to diseases linked to air, water and other forms of pollution, according to The Lancet, a reputed medical journal. The study said almost all pollution-related deaths - around 92% - are in poor or middle-income countries. And in rapidly industrialising countries such as India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Madagascar, pollution is linked to as many as a quarter of all fatalities, reports Reuters.
India accounted for about 28% of an estimated 9 million pollution-linked deaths worldwide in 2015, the study found. It also topped the list of deaths linked to polluted air (1.81 million) and water (0.64 million), reports The Indian Express.
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China, with 1.58 million, was placed after India in deaths linked to air-pollution, followed by Pakistan (0.22 million), Bangladesh (0.21 million) and Russia (0.14 million). In deaths linked to water pollution, Nigeria (0.16 million) and Pakistan (74,000) were placed after India.
The study, published on Friday, added that polluted air - caused by everything from transport and industry to indoor fires - was the biggest contributor linked to 6.5 million deaths.
The research, conducted by about 40 international scientists, used data from the Global Burden of Disease study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, adds Reuters.
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"Pollution is much more than an environmental challenge – it is a profound and pervasive threat that affects many aspects of human health and wellbeing," said Philip Landrigan, a professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the United States who co-led the study.
