health agency stated in the report. The majority of the deaths associated with air pollution were heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
"Few risks have greater impact on global health today than air pollution: the evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe," said Dr. Maria Neira, director of WHO's Department for Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health in the report.
The Western Pacific (which includes east Asia and the Pacific islands)and the Southeast Asian regions were estimated to be the hardest-hit, according to the report, with 2.8 million and 2.3 million deaths as a result of polluted air in 2012.