By Collins Odigie Ojiehanor
The air we breathe is silently claiming more lives than alcohol, unsafe water, or even malnutrition. From choking city streets to smoke-filled rural homes, the crisis cuts deepest in low- and middle-income countries, where people breathe polluted air and have the fewest healthcare protections. The damage runs deep, driving noncommunicable diseases and even dementia.
According to the State of Global Air (SoGA) 2025 report, air pollution contributed to 7.9 million deaths in 2023. One in every eight deaths globally is linked to polluted air. The report identifies fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as the most dangerous pollutant threatening global health.
Air pollution is no longer a distant environmental issue; it’s a full-scale health emergency, the report states. The air we breathe is silently shortening lives everywhere.
The report finds that nearly nine in ten deaths linked to air pollution (6.8 million) were from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), conditions that progress slowly but kill relentlessly, including heart disease, diabetes, cancer, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
Even more alarming, the 2025 edition introduces a new finding: air pollution’s role in dementia. In 2023 alone, polluted air contributed to more than 625,000 dementia deaths and nearly 12 million healthy years of life lost.
Women bear a disproportionate burden—both as caregivers and as individuals more likely to develop dementia themselves. The report estimates the global economic impact of air-pollution-related dementia at over $1 trillion annually.
Regions like South Asia, West Africa, and the Middle East bear the heaviest toll, where pollution levels are often ten times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. Yet, the health impacts are not confined to any one region; from megacities to small towns, pollution is becoming a shared global threat.
Dr. Pallavi Pant, HEI’s Head of Global Initiatives, said, “The data presented in the State of Global Air report highlight the significant impacts of poor air quality on the health and well-being of billions of people around the world, especially those living in Asia and Africa.”
Africa’s Hidden Burden
While North America’s wildfire haze made global headlines, the State of Global Air 2025 highlights an even grimmer picture across Africa.
More than three-quarters of African households still rely on solid fuels like wood, charcoal, and dung for cooking. The resulting household air pollution kills hundreds of thousands every year, especially women and children.
In 24 African countries, over 90% of the population is exposed to household air pollution. The Central African Republic, Madagascar, Somalia, Burundi, and Mali are among the most affected. Children inhale toxic smoke before they can even speak, says a health expert quoted in the report. It’s the invisible inequality of our time.
The WHO estimates that household air pollution contributes to nearly 20% of outdoor pollution in some regions, meaning the smoke from a family’s kitchen adds to the haze that blankets entire cities.
The Price of Progress
Urbanization, industrial expansion, and fossil fuel dependence are driving the rise of polluted skies. While economic growth has lifted millions out of poverty, it has often come at the expense of clean air and environmental health.
In Asia, cities like Delhi, Dhaka, and Lahore frequently top global pollution charts, with PM2.5 concentrations several times higher than safe limits. In Africa, rapid growth in motorization, open waste burning, and unchecked industrial emissions are emerging as major contributors.
The State of Global Air 2025 found that fossil fuel combustion alone caused 1.34 million deaths in 2023, while smoke from household fuels claimed another 1 million. Yet, the crisis is not inevitable, and solutions already exist.
Signs of Hope: Policy and Innovation
Several countries are proving that cleaner air is achievable. In Uganda, the government enacted its first National Air Quality Standards in 2024, setting limits on pollutants and creating a national monitoring system. In Ghana, new Air Quality Management Regulations (2025) target emissions from vehicles, industries, and waste sites.
Meanwhile, Brazil launched a National Air Quality Policy in 2024 to align with WHO guidelines, and China’s decade-long anti-pollution campaign, which banned household coal burning and promoted cleaner fuels, has already shown measurable health benefits.
At the global level, the World Health Organization adopted a plan in 2025 to cut deaths from human-made air pollution by half by 2040, a milestone that aligns with the United Nations goal to reduce noncommunicable disease mortality. These policy measures represent acts of hope for a cleaner, healthier future, the report concludes.
A Crisis We Can’t Ignore
Ongoing efforts to meet global development goals are not achievable without directly addressing air pollution, said Dr. Maria Neira, former director of WHO Public Health and Environment and Commissioner of Our Common Air.
Countries and cities must focus their efforts toward reducing air pollution emissions, including household air pollution, which has particularly severe impacts on young children and older people across Asia and Africa, she added.
The 2023 orange skies over North America were a wake-up call, but for billions worldwide, polluted air is a daily reality, an invisible crisis that clouds futures, stunts economies, and steals lives. Yet, the same report that reveals this grim reality also carries a message of possibility: air pollution is solvable.
Cleaner energy, stronger regulations, and public awareness campaigns can drastically improve air quality within a decade, as proven by nations that have already made progress.
The question is no longer whether we can clean the air, but whether we will act fast enough. Because, as those orange skies showed, no border can keep bad air out or protect us from the cost of inaction.