El Ciudadano
Original article: Calidad del aire y contaminación: La deuda sanitaria que persiste en Chile
Chile has established itself as a leader in healthcare within the region, having made significant strides in vaccination, medical infrastructure, disease coverage, and the expansion of health services in rural areas.
Nonetheless, these achievements coexist with major unresolved challenges, such as long waiting lists in the public health system and gaps in timely access to medical care.
Among these ongoing issues, air pollution management stands out, particularly regarding air quality, which remains a critical concern with serious implications for public health.
This is highlighted in the 2025 Annual Global Air Quality Report by IQAir, which ranked Chile 54th out of 143 countries in terms of fine particulate matter concentration (PM2.5).
The report also notes that five of the most polluted cities in Latin America are located in southern Chile: Coyhaique—the second most polluted city in the region—along with Nacimiento, Cochrane, Pitrufquén, and Loncoche.
Silvana Espinosa, an expert in Ecosystems and Climate from Greenpeace Chile, pointed out that although efforts have been made in this area, air quality remains one of the most pressing public health and environmental policy issues.
«Despite having a robust monitoring network, the country continues to face a crisis in this realm. It is particularly concerning that there has been a rollback on critical environmental decrees, such as the emission regulations for thermal power plants, the primary air quality standard for lead, and the air contamination reduction plan for Puerto Aysén, which borders the most polluted city in the country: Coyhaique,» warned Espinosa.
According to the Greenpeace spokesperson, measures such as repealing decrees, budget cuts in ministries, and halting new programs do not adequately address the scope of the environmental emergency affecting wide swathes of the population. This oversight will only exacerbate pressure on the healthcare system, especially with the onset of the most critical respiratory illness season.
In this context, she pointed out that only the municipality of Punta Arenas has managed to meet the annual PM2.5 guideline established by the World Health Organization.
Persistence of Sacrifice Zones
Espinosa also emphasized that there are areas in even more critical conditions, such as the tragically labeled ‘sacrifice zones,’ where communities live with persistent organic pollutants, sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and industrial gases, without clear accountability for the emissions.
«An example is what happened in Quintero and Puchuncaví, where gas poisoning—classified as T59 in the international nomenclature for identifying toxic effects from unknown gases—has become a part of daily life, primarily impacting children,» stated the NGO’s representative in the country.
As an illustration, Greenpeace recalled that just at the end of last year, over 200 minors were poisoned at their educational institutions during a new mass incident in this area of the Valparaíso Region.
With these insights in mind, the Greenpeace spokesperson called for an understanding that environmental care and the regulations designed to ensure it are not only crucial for protecting nature and ecological balances but are also essential for the health of people and communities.
«Not everything can be permitted in the reckless pursuit of wealth: the health of the environment is deeply interconnected with that of communities, and that is something we must not lose sight of. Therefore, it is terrible public policy to deregulate or halt the extensively debated public policies of the past, as doing so only leads to illness among the population,» concluded Silvana Espinosa.
El Ciudadano
Cover photo: Lin Linao – Coyhaique
La entrada Air Quality and Pollution: The Ongoing Health Crisis in Chile se publicó primero en El Ciudadano.
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