GEO-6 Regional Assessment for Asia and the Pacific


and excessive meat consumption, are also a central health issue (Watts et al. 2015; Whitmee et al. 2015).


1.4.2 Water and food pollution in Asia and the Pacific


Inadequate sanitation, together with a paucity of treated water, contributes to poor hygiene and water-borne illnesses (World Bank 2013). Drinking water contaminated by human faeces is estimated to be used by about 30 per cent of the population of South and Southeast Asia (Bain et al. 2014). Many Pacific countries face problems of contaminated and limited drinking water, due to their small area, increasing populations and sea-level rise. Freshwater stress is also increasing in many parts of Asia, and can worsen water- washed diseases, such as scabies and trachoma, the incidence of which can be reduced by ample supplies of clean water for washing.


Much groundwater is contaminated by arsenic in geologically vulnerable areas, including much of Bangladesh and parts of China, India and Myanmar. Groundwater can also be contaminated by human and industrial waste – a study in China found significant antibiotic contamination in 58 river basins (Zhang et al. 2015), a potential cause of anti-microbial resistance


Food can also be inadvertently contaminated by pesticides, aflatoxins or microbial toxins, or deliberately, such as by melamine sometimes added to food products to defraud consumers (Guan et al. 2009).


Population size and life expectancy increased considerably between 1960 and 2012 in Asia and the Pacific. Health adjusted life expectancy (1990–2013) also improved.


1.4.3 Air pollution, chronic disease and ageing


Air pollution, a leading global environmental health risk factors (Smith et al. 2014) is particularly important in Asia and the Pacific, especially in China, India and Southeast Asia.


36


It has two major sources, in households from the burning of coal and biomass for cooking and heating; and in the ambient environment from fossil fuel combustion mostly for transport and electricity generation. Of 7 million premature deaths attributed globally to air pollution in 2012, about 53 per cent has been attributed to outdoor (ambient) air pollution (Lelieveld et al. 2015) (Table 1.4.1).


The 2015 El Niño greatly worsened the effects of the seasonal fires most of which are deliberately set each year to clear forests for agriculture in large parts of Kalimantan, Sumatra and elsewhere in Indonesia, and cause haze that extends to Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. These fires have probably caused tens of thousands of foetal deaths, as well as suffering to other vulnerable populations in Southeast Asia (Jayachandran 2009).


Although the total burden of most non-communicable diseases has increased in Asia and the Pacific, the rate and severity of most conditions has declined, once ageing is accounted for (Beaglehole, et al. 2011). This is probably mainly because of improved childhood nutrition. There are possible exceptions: lung cancer is the most common cancer in China and the leading cause of cancer death, which is potentially attributable to air pollution and smoking (Chen et al. 2015; Chen et al. 2016; Mandel et al. 2015).


This success should, however, not be cause for complacency. It is likely that future population health could be substantially improved through reduced environmental and other risks, especially air pollution and smoking. The replacement of the burning of coal and biomass with cleaner fuels that do not pollute the atmosphere would also slow climate change and thus benefit health in other ways – such win-wins are often called co-benefits. Similarly, better organized cities, with good public transport systems, would improve air quality, slow climate change and might also bring other health benefits, such from walking (active transport) and greater social interaction. Obesity and diabetes remain key threats in many Pacific islands, even though they, too, continue to experience rising life expectancy.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196  |  Page 197  |  Page 198  |  Page 199  |  Page 200  |  Page 201  |  Page 202  |  Page 203  |  Page 204  |  Page 205  |  Page 206  |  Page 207  |  Page 208  |  Page 209  |  Page 210  |  Page 211  |  Page 212  |  Page 213  |  Page 214  |  Page 215  |  Page 216  |  Page 217  |  Page 218  |  Page 219  |  Page 220  |  Page 221  |  Page 222  |  Page 223  |  Page 224  |  Page 225  |  Page 226  |  Page 227