Air pollution is a global problem. Every year around 7 million people die prematurely from polluted air, that mainly causes stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
Air pollution is an urgent problem for Ukraine as well. According to the World Health Organization, 124 people from 100,000 people here are dying annually from air pollution. This is four times higher compared to the five cleanest countries of the planet together. According to the ratio of population mortality, Ukraine is one of the countries with the most polluted air among 160 countries studied.
Ukraine inherited large industrial enterprises from the Soviet Union. Currently, these equipment and technologies are outdated and generate enormous amounts of emissions. The same refers to coal-fired power plants, only a few of them have electrofilters installed. Moreover the Energy strategy of Ukraine foresees construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Transport also generates a significant amount of the emissions. Emissions from diesel engines are the ones most harmful for health; people living in vicinity of major roads have up to 12% greater probability of developing dementia.
