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Estimate suggests many infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa attributable to air pollution

A carefully considered observational study estimates that up to 22% of infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa could be prevented by improving air quality — a value much higher than previous estimates.
  1. Lance A. Waller

    1. Lance A. Waller is in the Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia 30322, USA.

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Big data can help to address many pervasive problems in the field of public health. For instance, large-scale data analyses are helping researchers to understand global patterns of disease, the range of factors that contribute to global health and the policies that provide the greatest potential for improvement1,2. In a paper in Nature, Heft-Neal et al.3 propose, implement and (importantly) scrutinize such an approach, exploring the impact of air quality on infant mortality in sub-Saharan Africa.

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Nature 559, 188-189 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05394-5

References

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