Experts: Air pollution – a threat to public health
Air pollution is posing a serious threat to the public’s health, with children, pregnant women, and outdoor workers being the most vulnerable groups, heard a workshop in Hanoi on January 17.
Hanoi (VNA) – Air pollution is posing a serious threat to the public’shealth, with children, pregnant women, and outdoor workers being the mostvulnerable groups, heard a workshop in Hanoi on January 17.
Theevent was jointly held by the Vietnam Non-Communicable Disease PreventionAlliance (NCDs-VN) and the Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance (VSEA).
DoXuan Hoan, a member of the research group from the VSEA’s Green Innovation andDevelopment Centre (GreenID), said the centre conducted a study on the airquality in Vietnam in 2016, focusing on the country’s largest cities, namelyHanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Accordingto the study, the average amount of PM2.5 dust (a subtype of atmosphericparticulate matter) recorded in the southern economic hub of Ho Chi Minh Citywas a little bit higher than the national limit, while that in the capital cityof Hanoi doubled the allowable level.
Hoan cited electricity generation, heavy industries, means of transports, waste burning, construction, and cookiཧng as main factors that have caused air pollution.
To improve the quality of air, he suggested that the country should quickly reducing artificial air pollution sources from industrial production, electricity generation, and transportation, while tighten the enforcement of legal regulations on construction and solid waste burning, and changing the cooking habits in families by encouraging them use more efficient and environmentally-friendly methods. At the same time, Vietnam should promote the building and enforcement of laws and regulations on air quality in accordance with international standards, he recommended. Dr. Do Manh Cuong, an official from the Ministry of Health’s Department of Health Environment Management Agency, warned that air pollution may cause respiratory failure, asthma, dermatitis, mental stress and cardiovascular diseases. Delegates emphasised the need to conduct specific assessments of environmental and health impacts caused by air pollution, in addition to providing health protection tips for the community, and monitoring the air quality both indoor and outdoor.-VNA
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Illustrative image (Source: VNA)
