Serbia's Air Pollution Linked to About 12,000 Deaths a Year, SANU Hears

Air pollution causes about 12,000 premature deaths a year in Serbia, according to the country's Air Protection Programme, a figure highlighted at a scientific conference held at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SANU) in Belgrade on Wednesday, 4 November. The meeting, organised by SANU's Department of Medical Sciences, brought together doctors, researchers and Belgrade public-health officials as the winter heating season begins.

Not only a lung problem

Cardiologist Branko Beleslin, a corresponding member of SANU, told RTS that the effects of polluted air go well beyond respiratory illness, to cardiovascular disease, cancers, dementia and childhood asthma. SANU president Zoran Knežević said Serbia's high burden of cardiovascular disease makes the problem especially serious, and called for closer links between research, clinical practice and public-health policy.

Zorana Jovanović Andersen of the University of Copenhagen said climate change, through heat waves and forest fires, is adding emissions as well as new pollens and allergens. Spanish physician María Neira, a candidate for Director-General of the World Health Organization, said nearly eight million premature deaths worldwide each year are linked to air pollution, and that the poorest people are hit hardest.

What the 12,000 figure means

The estimate comes from a government planning document rather than a new study presented at the conference, and the reports on the meeting did not explain how it was calculated. Speakers said the air in the region is more polluted than in the rest of Europe, but no city-by-city figures were published.

Why it matters now

The conference came at the start of the heating season, when air quality in Serbian cities is closely watched. Speakers noted that countries that adopted clean-air and tobacco-control measures have fewer heart and lung diseases, longer life expectancy and lower health costs — a policy file the incoming government will inherit along with the energy system.