' In a report released Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said air pollution was responsible for the deaths of over one lakh children under age 5 in India in 2016, and over 7,000 children between ages 5 and 14. In both age groups, the death rate was much higher among girls than among boys. Under age 5, air pollution accounted for the death ofnearly 55,000 girls (death rate 96.6 per lakh) and nearly 47,000 boys (74.3 per lakh). In the age group 5-14, the children who died comprised over 4,000 girls (death rate 3.4 per lakh) and over
; 3,000 boys (2.3 per lakh). Both genders taken together, the death rate in i India was 848 per lal<h among children under 5, and 2.9 per lakh in the age group 5-14.
These were out of about six lakh children below the age of 15 who died due to air pollution! Across the world åccounted for
more child deathsin India than in any of its neighboursv inauding China. Howeveri Myanmar and Pakistan had E; the highest death rate among these countries, in both age groups.
The report also looked at propor tions of children who are exposed to d levels of PM25 higher than theWHO air quality guide line levels.
