Air pollution has caused 13 percent of deaths in Kyrgyzstan. Louise Chamberlain, UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan said at the presentation of the first comprehensive report «Air Quality in Bishkek. Assessment of emission sources and roadmap for supporting air quality management.»
She noted that the document was prepared at the request of the Cabinet of Ministers by the Finnish Meteorological Institute for UNDP / UNEP.
«The season is starting when we will begin to feel how important air pollution issue is. And it is important to talk not only about environmental pollution, but also about the impact on human health. Over the past decade, 13 percent of deaths could be caused by air pollution. We have to remember that air pollution, including indoor air pollution, affects particularly vulnerable environments. We know from other studies that women suffer more because they spend more time at home,» she said.
Louise Chamberlain added that one of the objectives of the research is to identify the main sources of pollution so that the country’s authorities can develop policies, focus on actions that will lead to long-term results. These should be comprehensive solutions.
In particular, the researchers concluded that the main source of pollution is the heating of private households, traffic and uncontrolled burning of garbage, including a permanently burning landfill.
