It has been estimated that every year nearly 400,000 people die because of polluted air in Europe, according to an article published by the World Economic Forum. According to the map showing the level of air pollution by measuring the particles PM 2.5 level and converting them to the amount of cigarettes consumed, Albania is ranked among the countries with the highest level of pollution (see the mapabove).
According to the map coloring, Albania belongs to high-pollution areas, which if converted to consumed cigarettes are about 7 (almost half a packet consumed per day).The entire Western Balkans has a high level of air pollution. Pollution is mainly concentrated in Central and Southeastern Europe, while Western and Northern Europe has a lower level of air pollution.
The World Health Organization estimates that around 2 million people worldwide lose their life prematurely.
In addition to losing prematurely their life, hundreds of billions of euros are estimated to be the costs of treating the diseases that are caused by air pollution.
Janusz Wojciechowski, chief audit executive, told The Guardian that the findings were unacceptable: "We have a public health crisis in Europe due to air pollution". He added that there were more than 1,000 premature deaths every day across the EU, "More than 1% of the total daily deaths in the EU. This is 10 times higher than the number of accidents resulting in death by car. "
Wojciechowski also told to The Guardian that the EU spends 3.4 billion euros on fuels, almost double the 1.8 billion euros spent on combating air pollution.
"Air pollution should be treated as a priority by the EU," he added. "We hope that in the coming period will be a priority".