Air pollution costs the Maltese economy an annual €550 million in disease and death, killing an estimated 230 people a year, according to a new study by the World Health Organisation.
The cost is equivalent to 5.4 per cent of the island’s gross domestic product.
The study, ‘Economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe’, is the first assessment of the economic burden of deaths and diseases resulting from outdoor and indoor air pollution in the 53 countries of the WHO European Region.
It found that, in 2010, 228 people died prematurely in Malta due to air pollution – particulate matter in the air.
While the figure is slightly lower than that of 2005, which stood at 231 people, the economic cost of deaths from air pollution ballooned from €475 million in 2005 to €550 million in 2010.
Curbing the health effects of air pollution pays dividends
Air pollution is linked to cancers as well as to heart and respiratory diseases, blood vessel conditions and strokes.
However, there is evidence to suggest it may also play a part in a range of other diseases, including neonatal and neuropsychological impairments, the report notes.
The health impacts of air pollution have many significant financial and economic implications, not only in terms of the societal cost of mortality and morbidity but also for household, hospital and public budgets.
And air pollution not only affects human health but also the built environment, animal and plant health (impacting agriculture), and the larger ecological systems.
“Curbing the health effects of air pollution pays dividends,” WHO regional director for Europe Zsuzsanna Jakab said.
“The evidence we have provides decision-makers across the whole of government with a compelling reason to act. If different sectors come together on this, we not only save more lives but also achieve results that are worth astounding amounts of money.”
Air pollution is the single largest environmental health risk, imposing a large economic cost on the countries of the WHO European Region. As at 2010, the annual cost of premature deaths from air pollution across the countries of this region stood at €1.3 trillion.
Mitigating the toll on life and health imposed by air pollution is a multifaceted task, the report notes.
It need not always involve an attempt to reduce air pollution itself. For example, health programmes that result in the early identification and treatment of patients suffering from heart disease could reduce the number of those who are at higher risk from air pollution, and in turn reduce the health toll of air pollution, without addressing its root causes.
In addition, there are several measures attempting to reduce exposure to air pollutants, rather than acting to reduce emissions.
One example is the recent research from the US on the optimal design of cycle paths in relation to roads, or the optimal design of bus and tram stops in order to enable waiting users to face away from road traffic rather than towards it.