In 2016, when the International Energy Agency released a report on air pollution (based on data from 2012), it named the small Eurasian country of Georgia as having the highest mortality rate in the world caused by air pollution, with close to 300 deaths per 100,000 people. By comparison, China, which is known for the bad air quality in its cities, reported slightly over 150 deaths per 100,000 people. [...]
Until recently, most Tbilisi restaurants allowed smoking indoors. Smoke emanating from metal garbage cans on street corners as a result of uncontrolled burning is a common sight. An acrid smell from vehicle emissions pervades the major thoroughfare of Rustaveli Avenue.
But two years after the IEA report, a growing number of citizens and organizations in Georgia are fighting for their quality of life. Through street protests and campaigns, television debates, and discussions on social media, Tbilisians are seeking to change the status quo. It seems that their voices are being heard, even if most people aren’t prepared to follow the lead of the Oxygen Ninjas. [...]
Respiratory diseases caused by air pollution are becoming a public-health crisis. According to statistics released by Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control and Public Health, at the end of 2016, the number of registered cases of respiratory diseases stood at more than 225,000 in Tbilisi alone. In a city with population of 1.1 million, that is a rate higher than 20 percent. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) caused by inhaling tobacco smoke accounted for a large chunk—74 percent—of those respiratory cases.
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