Worsening air quality puts 11M children under 5 in peril in Pakistan’s Punjab, warns UN

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – The UN has called for “urgent” and “greater” efforts to reduce air pollution and protect children’s health, as over 11 million children under five years of age are exposed to this smog in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

“I am extremely concerned about the well-being of young children who are forced to breathe polluted, toxic air. Over 11 million children under five years of age are exposed to this smog in the worst-affected districts,” the UNICEF’s representative in Islamabad, Abdullah Fadil, said in a statement.

A string of desperate measures have been taken by the Punjab government to contain the deadly smog that has enveloped the provincial capital Lahore, and several other districts over the past two weeks.

The measures include the closure of schools, public parks, zoos, playgrounds and museums, aside from cut in market hours.

Lahore, home to over 14 million people, regularly battles the cancer-causing smog, which is primarily blamed on the burning of stubble by farmers in Pakistan and neighboring India to clear their fields for plowing, and industrial and vehicular emissions.

– 16M children affected by schools closure –

The closure of schools, the UN agency said, has disrupted the learning of almost 16 million children in Punjab since November 17.

“The air pollution is so severe it is now visible from space,” the statement said.

“Prior to these record-breaking levels of air pollution, about 12% of deaths in children under five in Pakistan were due to air pollution,” it added.

Moreover, it went on to say, the potential impact of air pollutants can be extreme on babies’ developing lungs and brains, while breathing in particulate air pollution can “damage brain tissue and undermine cognitive development — with lifelong implications and setbacks.”

“We cannot afford to let our babies breathe toxic air. We cannot let the health, education and well-being of millions of children suffer,” he said, adding that we must take urgent action for the “sake of our children,” it maintained.​​​​​​​