Water pollution is another serious environmental concern. Sewage and agricultural waste contaminate water supplies, and provoke a host of waterborne illnesses. In addition, rivers that are used as a source of drinking water become contaminated with heavy metals, including lead, cadmium and arsenic from industrial discharges, negatively affecting people’s health.
The economic impact of water pollution on human health has been estimated in US$3.9 billion a year. At the same time, nearly half of China’s 640 most important cities face serious water shortages.
Toxic compounds in air and water affect the health of children and adults alike. However, because children are still growing and their immune system and detoxification mechanisms are not fully developed, toxic agents have a more serious impact on them than in adults.
It is estimated that half of the country’s population consumes water contaminated with animal and human waste that exceeds permissible levels. Water pollution increases the rate of liver and stomach cancers.
Health problems are aggravated by the incapacity of the government to provide adequate health care to the population, particularly those living in rural areas. As a result of the reforms introduced in the health sector, the old national public health system which had responded to the most basic health needs of the population was dissolved, and left the majority of the population unprotected. It is estimated that close to 80 percent of the rural population lacks health insurance.
The consequences of pollution in China, the world’s most populous nation with over 1.3 billion people, impact not only that country but also its neighbors. There is fear that as a result of pollution in the heavily contaminated Yangtze River fish stocks can be decimated.
At the same time, China’s carbon dioxide emissions are an important cause of global warming. Although the United States today surpasses China as a greenhouse gas producer, if current trends continue China may become number one by 2025.
Chinese authorities have been trying to limit the damage caused by environmental pollution and have set guidelines in a document entitled “Priority Activities for Sustainable Development.”
However, despite new policies and regulations, compliance remains low. On a World Bank list of 20 cities with the worst air quality, 16 of them are Chinese cities. At the same time, 40% of Chinese cities suffer from medium to high-levels of air pollution.
According to a World Bank assessment, projected health effects of air pollution in urban China by 2020 will include: 600,000 premature deaths in urban areas, 9 million person-years lost because of pollution-related illness, 20 million cases of respiratory illness per year, 5.5 million cases of chronic bronchitis, and health damages valued at 13 percent of its GDP.
Those effects should be added to the intrinsic weakness of China’s health system.
China needs to continue developing energy-efficient technologies, implementing cheap and environmentally-responsible transportation systems and at the same time stringently enforce its own environmental regulations.
According to the U.S.-based Worldwatch Institute, many Chinese officials now recognize that the resource-intensive model of economic growth is no longer a good option for China. It is now time to develop new energy options to move the country solidly into the twenty-first century.
Dr. Cesar Chelala is an international public health consultant and the author of Environmental Impact on Child Health, a publication of the Pan American Health Organization.
