New Delhi : India had the world's highest number of deaths due to air, water and other forms of pollution in 2015, according to a study published in the Lancet journal today which showed that pollution killed as many as 2.5 million people in the country. Most of these deaths are due to non-communicable diseases caused by pollution such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers said.
According to the study, air pollution is the biggest contributor, linked to 6.5 million deaths in 2015 in the world while water pollution (1.8 million deaths) and workplace- related pollution (0.8 million deaths) pose the next largest risks. Researchers, including those from Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT) in New Delhi and Icahn School of Medicine in the US, pointed out that almost 92 per cent pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
In rapidly industrialising countries such as India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Kenya while deaths due to pollution can account for up to one in four deaths. "In 2015, the greatest numbers of deaths due to pollution occurred in India (2.5 million deaths) and China (1.8million)," the study said. PTI
