`Ella’s case a cue for govt to take air pollution seriously’
Dr. Poornima Prabhakaran, deputy director at the Centre for Environmental Health at Public Health Foundation of India said the results of the inquest into Ella’s death will set a precedent for future battles for the ‘right to breathe clean air’.
December 17, 2020 1:56:51 am
Ella Kissi-Debrah died in February 2013 following three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for breathing problems. (Representational)
A court in the UK has made legal history by ruling that air pollution is one of the causes of the death of 9-year-old Ella Kissi Debrah, who lived near a busy road in London with her mother. Ella has become the first person in the UK – and potentially the world – for whom air pollution is listed as a cause of death. It will now be stated in Ella’s death certificate that she died from the following causes: acute respiratory failure, severe asthma and air pollution exposure.