Deaths 'linked to pollution'
2007-07-04 14:49
Beijing - About 460 000 Chinese die
prematurely each year from breathing polluted air and drinking
dirty water, according to a World Bank study.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that the Chinese
government, the bank's partner in the research project, had
asked the lender not to publish the estimates for fear they
could trigger social unrest.
The conference version of the study, available at the
bank's website, says some estimates of the physical and
economic cost of pollution have been omitted because of
uncertainties about calculation methods and their application.
However, the report goes on to estimate the health costs
from premature deaths associated with outdoor air pollution at
394 billion yuan. With each life valued at one million yuan, that works out at a death toll of 394 000.
The study puts the cost of deaths from diarrhoea and cancer
caused by drinking polluted water at 66 billion yuan, pointing
to 66 000 premature deaths a year.
China-watchers said it was standard practice in research
projects conducted with the government for both sides to have a
veto over the conclusions.
The World Bank said the final report would be out soon.
"Consistent with the World Bank's approach to this type of
joint research project, the findings of the report are being
discussed with the government. The conference version of the
report did not include some of the issues that are still under
discussion," the bank's Beijing office said in a statement.
An economist in Beijing said the study's estimate of
premature deaths from airborne pollution, although shocking,
was broadly in line with earlier published World Bank research
and with recent findings by Chinese academics.
The World Bank is also concerned by indoor air pollution,
principally breathing in fumes from coal-burning stoves and
cooking oil. Its experts estimate that as many as 300 000
Chinese a year die prematurely in this way.
China, home to some of the world's 20 most polluted cities,
is redoubling its efforts to clean up the environment.
The authorities are closing down dirty industrial plants,
raising car fuel-efficiency standards and tweaking taxes to
discourage energy-intensive production. China on Sunday also
introduced higher drinking water standards.