The exact extent of correlation between pollution and cancer may not be known at this point but the two deadly menaces share one similarity in terms of their devastating effects on human beings.
A UN official says both cause roughly an equal number of deaths.
“The World Health Organization has estimated that seven million people on the planet are dying from pollution – that is more or less the same number of people dying from cancer,” Executive Director of the UN Environment Program (UNEP), Erik Solheim, says.
His comparative look at implications of the two terrible challenges of the time – one environmental, the other medical – highlights the intensity of effects that pollution is having on human life.
Speaking to reporters in Geneva, Solheim made another critical observation. The second issue is “to look into the crossroads between environment and wars and conflicts and migration,” the official said, according to the United Nations.
In order to bring greater focus to these priorities, he said, it is necessary to reach out to more people and change narratives to get closer to people’s hearts.
Surely, some food for thought for all stakeholders.
