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WHO says 1.7 mln kids die annually due to polluted environment

More than one in four deaths of children under five years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments, according to the WHO

MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. As many as 1.7 million children in the world die every year because of polluted environment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

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According to the WHO, "more than one in four deaths of children under five years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments." "Every year, environmental risks - such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation and inadequate hygiene - take the lives of 1.7 million children under five years," the organization added.

"A polluted environment is a deadly one - particularly for young children," WHO Director-General Margaret Chan stressed. According to her, the children’s "developing organs and immune systems, and smaller bodies and airways, make them especially vulnerable to dirty air and water."

The WHO noted that "reducing air pollution inside and outside households, improving safe water and sanitation and improving hygiene… and building safer environments, can prevent children’s deaths and diseases."

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