Denpasar. A significant report by a senior researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency's (BRIN) Center for Public Health and Nutrition Research, Dede Anwar Musadad, reveals that the five leading diseases caused by air pollution in Indonesia are stroke, ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and neonatal disorders.

The provinces bearing the highest disease burden due to air pollution are located in the eastern regions of the country, including West Sulawesi, North Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), Gorontalo, and Central Sulawesi, as reported on the agency’s website, brin.go.id, on Thursday (2/5).

"Age-wise, the most significant burden of disease from air pollution occurs in the newborn population, with a higher incidence in males compared to females," Musadad highlighted.

According to the research, the most severe health burden from air pollution originates from indoor environments (households). Meanwhile, outdoor air pollution (ambient pollution) seems to show less significant links to these diseases.

Musadad’s research emphasizes respiratory diseases in children and toddlers associated with high levels of household air pollutants. One contributing factor is the practice of mothers taking infants into the kitchen while cooking, therefore, exposing them to smoke.

As such, Musadad calls for greater awareness to prevent mothers from bringing their children into the kitchen while cooking. In addition, there is a need for health education regarding the habit of burning trash at the household level and the use of unsafe cooking fuels.

"It is essential to continue promoting policies that shift the usage from environmentally harmful fuels to safer alternatives, such as electricity and gas," he explained.

Furthermore, the disease burden analysis utilized Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) loss, reflecting years lost due to disability, premature death, and incapacitating diseases or traffic accidents.

The data for this report was sourced from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) spanning 2010-2019, conducted by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).