Air Pollution in Vietnam Worsens, Threatening Health: Experts

Domestic and foreign experts at a workshop held in Hanoi last weekend warned that air pollution in Vietnam is getting worse, missing targets for safety levels and putting the lives and health of millions at risks, state media reported. Air pollution in urban areas continues to rise at an alarming rate, wreaking havoc on human health, the experts said at the workshop on implementation of national action plan on air quality management to 2020 and vision to 2025. The 2014 Environmental Performance Index (EPI, as developed and monitored by Yale University ranked Vietnam 170 out of 178 countries for air quality, thus including Vietnam among the 10 worst countries for air pollution. Pollution problems consist mainly of dust and fine dust, especially around building and construction sites and near roads used by trucks carrying large uncovered loads of construction materials and building waste. In these areas, dust and fine dust concentrations exceeding permissible standards are quite high, according to the experts. Moreover, many production facilities continue to use obsolete technology with inefficient exhaust treatment systems, leading to large industrial emissions which are worsened by the burning of fossil fuels, production of cement, metallurgy, and thermal power stations along with toxic gases discharged by chemical industries. According to statistics of the Ministry of Health, air pollution-related diseases have been on the rise in recent years as a result of air pollution from dust, SO2, NOx, and CO. The rate of people contracted to lung diseases is 4.1% per 100,000 populations, 3.8% having sore throat, and 3.1% with bronchitis. Spending for air pollution-linked disease reaches VND400 billion ($18 million) per year, experts said at the workshop. Apart from affecting health and lives of the people, air pollution has caused huge economic losses, through the cost of health care, medical care, loss of time due to illness in humans, crop damages, the quality of construction and materials, and tourism. (Tin Tuc – News Sept 23 p6, www.monre.gov.vn Sept 22, Baogiaothong.vn Sept 22)