15 March 2016 Cairo – In 2012, an estimated 854 000 people died as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment in the Eastern Mediterranean Region – nearly one in 5 of total deaths in this Region, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO). Environmental risk factors, such as air, water and soil pollution, chemical exposures, climate change and ultraviolet radiation, contribute to more than 100 diseases and injuries. The second edition of the report "Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of burden of disease from environmental risks" reveals that since the report was first published a decade ago, deaths due to noncommunicable diseases, linked primarily to air pollution and chemical exposures, are amounting annually to as much as 450 000 of these deaths in the Region. Accordingly, noncommunicable diseases, such as stroke, heart disease, cancers and chronic respiratory disease, now amount to more than half of the total deaths caused by unhealthy environments.  At the same time, deaths from infectious diseases, such as diarrhoea and malaria, often related to poor water, sanitation and waste management have declined. Increases in access to safe water and sanitation and decreases in households using solid fuels for cooking have been key contributors to this decline, alongside better access to immunization, insecticide-treated mosquito nets and essential medicines. Despite the decline, the burden of infectious diseases is still of major concern in many countries of the Region, including those affected by civil unrest and crises.  Read more...