According to the air quality index in Bosnia and Herzegovina published by “Eko Akcija”, in most cities, especially Sarajevo, Banja Luka, Zenica and Tuzla, the air is unhealthy during the day and dangerous to the health of the population at night.
Ecologists and doctors warn that this problem must be urgently addressed, especially considering estimates by international institutions that show that between 3,000 and 5,550 people die annually from polluted air in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The air quality this morning is unhealthy in Zenica, Tešanj, Bihać, Maglaj and Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Jajce, Visoko and Kakanj, is news that has been bombarding us from the portals almost daily in recent months. The fact that the situation is extremely alarming is visible to the naked eye, say citizens, who are finding it increasingly difficult to breathe.
Due to unhealthy air, it is possible that symptoms and severity of illness may increase in people with heart and respiratory diseases, such as asthma, while others may begin to feel the negative impact of pollution on their health.
“And what our patients tell us is that the city stinks. The city literally stinks, you can’t breathe. How does this affect human health – very disastrous, even to the point that it can cause immediate and dramatic deterioration of health and even sudden death related to the cardio-respiratory system,” explains Rade Dujaković, a specialist in internal medicine.
And the pollutants are numerous, starting from carbon dioxide, sulfur and nitrogen oxides, soot dust particles, from car exhaust gases, from the combustion chambers of large systems and individual combustion chambers. It is up to the authorities to create strategies and measures to reduce pollution, experts say.
“We can actually talk about solutions in terms of spatial planning, better ventilation of the city, we can talk about heating buildings, we need much more investment in energy efficiency and much more investment in the distribution network, where we have a lot of losses,” says Dragan Kabić, representative of the Environmental Center Banja Luka.
“Local communities should make plans to reduce pollution. I think only Prijedor and Banja Luka have such a plan, that has been adopted by the assemblies,” says Ranka Radić, Head of the Environmental Protection Department at the RHMSRS.
All this should be a wake-up call for the authorities to start working on a solution to the problem as soon as possible. Until then, lung and heart patients, pregnant women, children and the elderly should reduce outdoor physical activities, and everyone else should avoid greater exertion.
Source: impulsportal.net
