New report reveals that sensitive populations are the main victims of air pollution • The study also showed that air pollution burdens the health system • Reducing pollution may also help the country economically

• Zikim Beach, last year (illustration)

Air pollution poses a serious threat to public health, causing significant illness that burdens the health system and even mortality, according to a report released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection this morning (Monday), which clarifies the link between air pollution and the corona virus.

According to the report, written by Professor Hagai Levin, a public health specialist and chairman of the Association of Public Health Physicians, exposure to air pollution causes significant morbidity and mortality at the population level and particularly affects vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, children, pregnant women and patients with chronic diseases. Air pollution, as reported in the report, can cause background diseases that pose a risk of serious morbidity and mortality from corona, such as respiratory or cardiovascular disease.

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Studies published abroad found a direct link between exposure to air pollution and an increase in corona mortality. For example, a study conducted in 3,000 sub-districts in the United States found that an increase in air pollution of 1 mcg / m3 of respirable particles was associated with an eight percent increase In mortality from the virus.

The report also addresses the importance of reducing air pollution as a means of alleviating the burdens that hamper the efficiency of the health system. Has enormous economic significance, in that it will raise the critical threshold of care capacity so that less stringent measures can be taken that will harm the economy less.

Gila Gamliel, the Minister of Environmental Protection, said that the study re-examined the connection between air pollution and Corona. "We must work to reduce air pollution in population concentrations so that we can be better prepared for future outbreaks of epidemics." The Minister added that "exposure to air pollution causes morbidity and mortality, and I intend to concentrate efforts in favor of improving air quality in Israel."

The "Green Trend" organization stated: "The new report once again confirms the direct link between preserving the environment and preserving public health. We experience in our flesh the serious consequences of air pollution. In the days when the Arrangements Law condemns dangerous moves to erode the powers of the Ministry of Environmental Protection and local government in protecting the public from pollutants, the report once again emphasizes the importance of enforcement and control policies.

Dr. Arie Wenger, head of air pollution and energy at Man, Nature and Law, said: “To deal with the corona, which is expected to accompany us for a limited time, the state is making quick and fair decisions. In order to deal with air pollution, the state does not approve a national plan to reduce air pollution, which according to the law should have been accepted and budgeted for in 2018. "