Experts warn thousands could die from haze

Experts warn thousands could die from haze

HONG KONG, China (Agencies): Thousands of people will be
killed by the smog blanketing southeast Asia, experts warned here
yesterday, adding some regions could face famine as crops were
devastated and livestock choked to death.

"It's an absolute disaster in health terms," said Hong Kong
University pollution expert Prof. Anthony Hedley, likening the
effect of the haze to all the tens of millions of people in the
stricken region taking up smoking.

"It's not stretching imagination too far to say if you immerse
people in this tremendous pollution ... then I think there is
nothing more predictable than a substantial number of premature
deaths.

"There are going to be tens of thousands of illnesses and I
don't think we've seen the half of it," he said

The haze, believed to have been caused by forest fires in
Indonesia, has smothered vast areas of the region and has already
caused some deaths and left thousands ill.

Hedley, head of the university's community medicine unit, said
health effects of the haze could include chronic bronchitis,
emphysema, diseases of blood vessels in the head, and lung and
cardiovascular disease.

Up to 20 percent of all deaths in the region could now be
caused by the haze, he said, citing several international
studies.

The old and the young were particularly vulnerable, he said.

Other specialists said the haze was blocking sunlight,
starving plants and reducing temperatures amid a drought, a
combination of factors which could devastate food supplies.

"It will destroy the ecology of the region," said Fang Ming,
senior climatology program manager at Hong Kong University of
Science and Technology.

"Insects, animals and vegetation alike will be largely
destroyed," he said.

Senior environmental protection department scientific officer
Yeung Mo-man said the lack of sunlight could have a disastrous
effect on crops.

"If these people could just leave the region, it would be
good," he said.

"But that is not possible. They should just stay in their
houses and wait. The priority must be to put the fires out."

Protest

In a related development, activists and opposition party
members in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur demonstrated in
front of the prime minister's office yesterday, protesting "the
lack of firm and effective action" by the government in combating
the choking smog shrouding the region.

Led by Tian Chua of the human rights group Voice of the
Malaysian People, the half a dozen protesters representing
various groups held up banners at the gates of the hilltop office
as police officers stood by.

They handed over a petition of 1,800 signatures from the
Malaysian Environmental Protection Society, Consumer Association
and others, demanding urgent action.

"We are surprised that the fires in Indonesia raging at such
magnitude were not detected at an early stage," read a memorandum
to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who left for Latin America on
Wednesday.

"We should have paid greater attention to the situation and
helped Indonesia to control or put off the fire as soon as it
happened," the memorandum said.

On Tuesday, Malaysia sent 1,210 firefighters by ship to help
control forest fires in Indonesia, where at least two people have
died because of the pollution.

The forest fires have resulted in a haze which has enshrouded
the whole of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei and parts of the
Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Environment officials said that with forest fires still raging
in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo, and
on Sumatra, across the Straits of Malacca from Malay Peninsular,
the chances of the smog easing up soon was remote.

In Sarawak, medical officials there say about 15,000 people
have sought outpatient treatment for breathing problems.

The coalition that demonstrated yesterday, which included some
medical doctors, said 8,170 people had been admitted to hospitals
throughout Malaysia with respiratory difficulties.

Reports from Singapore said yesterday an ambulance company was
offering free service for victims of the thick smoke haze
blanketing the city-state.

The company, Tele-Medical services, said it would provide a
free ride to the hospital and attending doctor for those
suffering from heart and respiratory problems as a result of the
pollution caused by the forest fires.

Singapore authorities began broadcasting round-the-clock
pollution index readings on the nation's main television network
yesterday.