Forty children this year were diagnosed with cancer. The youngest patient is a three-
month-old baby. Currently, 20 children are being treated at the Pediatric Disease
Clinic, the rest have completed treatment and some have been released for home
treatment. According to Clinic data, most children have leukemia.
Childhood cancer is a complex process and one or two causes cannot be identified.
Most events are followed by events that affect only the intrauterine development until
the manifestation of the disease. There are genetic and epigenetic factors that
increase the risk of cancer, says Dr. Svetlana Kocheva of the University Clinic of
Pediatric Diseases – Skopje.
One of the external factors for childhood cancer, according to the World Health
Organization, is air pollution. WHO warns that polluted air has serious consequences
on children's health.
"There is substantial evidence that exposure to air is associated with an increased
risk of childhood leukemia," the WHO said.
Not just cancer, children growing up in a polluted environment have a higher risk of
developing asthma, bronchitis, chronic lung obstruction and pneumonia.
According to WHO, air pollution is also a cause of premature births of babies, and
polluted air is both a risk factor and a development of many chronic diseases in
children. Some doctors also associate air pollution with the emergence of autism.
According to WHO statistics globally – each year 600,000 children die as a result of
air pollution.
