Press Release

The press release will be issued at 8:30 [UK time] 12:00 [US ET] Monday, 16th May 2022, embargoed until 23:30 [UK time]/ 6:30 pm [US ET] Tuesday 17th May 2022.

• English
• Chinese
• French
• Spanish

Full Report

Full Report – print version

Supplementary Annexes

• Approach
• Supplementary Appendix- Measurement of Losses in Economic Output due to Pollution

Executive Summary

• English
• French
• Spanish

Key Messages

• English
• French
• Spanish

Key Messages- Infographic

Resources

By World Bank region – Deaths attributable to pollution, by pollution type – 2019 (based on Global Burden of Disease data)

Country breakdown – Deaths attributable to pollution, by pollution type – 2019 (based on Global Burden of Disease data)

Video

Stories from the ground– photos and audio clips available upon request

The silent killer: the struggle to stop lead poisoning in Senegal

When cutting air pollution becomes personal in Indonesia

No safe haven: how cooking at home can be fatal in Madagascar 

Contact

Authors available for interviews

For interviews with the Article author, please contact:

USA & Canada

Angela Bernhardt

1. E) [email protected] T) +1 (845) 367-3754

Rest of the World

Arantxa Cedillo

1. E) [email protected] T) +41 76 786 7590

Launch Events/Press Briefings

Launch events and press briefings will take place around the world in NYC; Washington, D.C.; Brussels; Ottawa; Delhi. RSVP to attend. Live streaming options are available at some events. See individual event details.

• May 19th at NYU School of Global Public Health Room 801 on 708 Broadway, NYC from 9-12 EST with a served breakfast. To attend in person please RVSP. To register for the virtual event please follow this link. 
• May 22nd at World Heart Federation Summit on Campus Biotech, Geneva, Switzerland from 9:30-10 am CET. To register for the virtual event please follow this link.
• June 15th at TERI India, New Delhi, India, more information soon. 

The 2019 Pollution and Health Metrics: Global, Regional and Country Analysis report from the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) updates findings from The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, and provides a ranking of pollution deaths on a global, regional and country level.

The 2019 publication found that pollution remains the world’s largest environmental threat to human health, responsible in 2017 for 15% of all deaths globally, and 275 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years. The 2019 report, which uses the most recent Global Burden of Disease data from the Institute of Health Metrics Evaluation, underscores the extent and severity of harm caused by air, water, and occupational pollution.

The Commission on Pollution and Health is an initiative of The Lancet, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with additional coordination and input from United Nations Environment, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the World Bank. The Commission comprises many of the world’s most influential leaders, researchers and practitioners in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development. The aim of the Commission is to reduce air, soil and water pollution by communicating the extraordinary health and economic costs of pollution globally, providing actionable solutions to policy-makers and dispelling the myth of pollution’s inevitability. The Commission Report was published in The Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious and widely read medical journals, on October 19, 2017.

The 2017 Report from The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health analyzes and communicates the massive scope of the health and economic costs of air, water and soil pollution. Through analyses of existing and emerging data, the Report reveals pollution’s severe and underreported contribution to the Global Burden of Disease. It uncovers the economic costs of pollution to low- and middle-income countries, and compare the costs of inaction to the costs of available solutions. It informs key decision makers around the world about the burden that pollution places on health and economic development, and about cost-effective pollution control solutions and strategies. The Commission will bring pollution squarely into the international development agenda.

Country breakdown – Deaths attributable to pollution – 2015 (based on Global Burden of Disease Data)

Click here for the full 2017 report, executive summary, data sets, and infographics.