Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb. 27 /Trend S.Isayev, T. Jafarov/
Every year about 80,000 people in Iran die of environmental pollution, country's Ministry of Health announced, Fars news agency reported.
Ministry's head of Environmental health department, Kazem Naddafi said during the Environmental Health Festival that Iran defines a new strategy for the health system, that will soon bring results.
"Iran will have the highest health level in the region by 2025," Naddafi said.
He added that 80,000 annual deaths due to environmental pollution amount to 21 percent of overall annual death percentage in Iran.
According to Naddafi, in the world, the medium average of annual deaths because of environmental pollution is between 15 and 30 percent.
Tehran, which spreads over an area of 900 square kilometres, is considered one of the world's most polluted cities. On weekdays, the city's population reaches 15 million, leading to traffic jams and high pollution in the city centre.
Some experts believe that the biggest reason of Tehran's heavy air pollution today is because car manufacturing in the country is being done at a lower level, and the amount of manufacturing should be reduced.
Iran has previously had laws implemented for dealing with the problem of air pollution, however none of them worked.
Heavy dust storms also shrouded certain western and southwestern provinces of Iran, making breathing difficult for people.
Health officials have been warning about the aggravation of respiratory diseases and advised the elderly and children to stay indoors.
Experts say the dust storms descend on Iran from the deserts and dried-up ponds of Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
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