Why do we celebrate Child Rights Week ?
The Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1989 and entered into force in 1990. Children during any given situation are the most vulnerable section of society and are easily prone to danger hence these rights are in place to help them. Further to make sure that children are protected and their rights intrinsically related to their health and well being, are known to the masses, ‘Child RightsWeek’ is celebrated between the 14th – 20th November every year to realise the rights of children up to the age of 18 years old.
Have you ever imagined how our children are suffering from air pollution?
Children are at a crucial stage of growth and development and are particularly most vulnerable as compared to other age groups. The adverse effects of PM2.5 air pollution on children’s health have been reported in many studies, with lung function serving as an effective indicator of early lung disease Asthma, and other lung related diseases are affecting them as a result of dangerous levels of air pollution.
The right to life for a child includes the right to live and breathe quality air that is clean and devoid of pollutants that could do harm to their health. Despite this basic human right, more than 116,000 infants in India have been reported to have died within a month of their birth in 2019, just due to polluted air— according to the State of Global Air 2020 report released October 21, 2020.
Every day around 93 percent of the world’s children under the age of 15 years (1.8 billion children) breathe air that is so polluted it puts their health and development at serious risk. The World Health Organisation, had earlier estimated in 2016 – that close to 600,000 children have died from acute lower respiratory infections caused by polluted air.
So how’s the impact across the region of Bengal & Jharkhand ?
Bengal has the highest air pollution-related deaths among states in the mid – socio demographic index (SDI) segment, according to a report published by Centre for Science & Environment (CSE). Whereas – 30 out of every 1,000 new-borns die in Jharkhand every year according to the latest sample registration survey (SRS).
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