India among top five nations with most pollution related deaths

According to renowned medical journal The Lancet, pollution killed around nine million people worldwide in 2015.

In simple terms, one in six deaths were due to pollution.

The report has indicated that most of these deaths have occurred in low and moderate income nations.

While countries like Sweden and Brunei has shown the maximum resistance to such deaths, the most affected counties are Bangladesh, Somalia and Chad respectively in first, second and third positions.

India is fifth on the list, one lower than Niger.

Nepal, South Sudan and Eritrea are sixth, seventh and eighth in the list respectively, while Madagascar and Pakistan complete the top ten.

"Pollution is much more than an environmental challenge - it is a profound and pervasive threat that affects many aspects of human health and wellbeing," said Prof Philip Landrigan, of the Icahn School of Medicine, at Mount Sinai in New York, who authored the report.

The top 10 countries with the lowest number of casualties in such cases are Brunei, Sweden, Finland, Barbados, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Iceland, The Bahamas and Norway respectively. 

The report also said that air pollution caused approximately 6.5 million premature deaths.

Though no where close, water pollution accounted for 1.8 million deaths, while 800,000 people died globally due to pollution in the workplace.

Almost 92 percent of the casualties have been reported in poorer countries and nations witnessing economic development.

Both India and China (16th), who are taking giant stride in global economy, feature in the list.

Image: Isha Foundation