The deteriorating air quality in Southeast Asia over the past few decades has had a direct impact on the health of individuals residing in this region [
6]. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2019 [
37], chronic respiratory diseases were responsible for a significant number of deaths in mainland Southeast Asia between 1990 and 2019, as illustrated in
Figure 4. The present study provides an assessment of mortality rates linked to chronic respiratory illnesses, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, in mainland Southeast Asia spanning the period from 1990 to 2019. According to the data, there was an increase in the number of deaths attributed to chronic respiratory diseases in Cambodia from 12,756 in 1990 to 14,413 in 2019. Likewise, it can be observed that in Laos, there has been a rise in the mortality rate from 2,096 in 1990 to 3,179 in 2019. The mortality rate in Malaysia has exhibited an upward trend, with a rise from 6,565 in 1990 to 7,754 in 2019. The mortality rate in Myanmar has exhibited an upward trend, with fatalities rising from 38,962 in 1990 to 59,782 in 2019. The mortality rate in the Philippines has shown an upward trend, with a rise from 35,858 in 1990 to 51,186 in 2019. Between 1990 and 2019, there was an increase in the number of deaths in Thailand from 29,630 to 36,750, and in Vietnam, the number of deaths rose from 36,698 to 48,568 during the same period. The report by GBD found that Cambodia incurred 238,290 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 1990, which increased to 306,245 DALYs in 2019. In 1990, Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar incurred 29,232, 139,703, and 947,801 disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), respectively. In 2019, these countries experienced an increase in DALYs, with Laos, Malaysia, and Myanmar reporting 46,364, 182,303, and 1,448,635 DALYs, respectively. In 1990, the quantity of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) recorded in Thailand was 676,741, which subsequently rose to 794,748 by 2019. The incidence of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in Vietnam exhibited an increase from 1,117,224 in 1990 to 1,658,316 in 2019. Within the designated temporal scope, a significant number of years of life lost (YLLs) in mainland Southeast Asia were attributed to chronic respiratory diseases, including but not limited to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, among other respiratory ailments. In 1990, Cambodia documented approximately 80,051 years of life lost (YLLs), an amount that rose to 101,328 YLLs in 2019. The YLLs in Laos were 10,271 in 1990 and increased to 15,156 in 2019. The YLLs in Malaysia were 42,112 in 1990 and increased to 51,715 in 2019. The number of years of life lost (YLLs) in Myanmar experienced an increase from 318,056 in 1990 to 492,813 in 2019. In 1990, Thailand experienced 272,644 years of life lost (YLLs), which subsequently rose to 328,846 in 2019. Likewise, it can be observed that in Vietnam, the years of life lost (YLLs) amounted to 323,631 in 1990 and exhibited an increase to 455,831 by 2019. Within the designated temporal parameters, chronic respiratory ailments exerted a substantial influence on the overall health of the populace residing in mainland Southeast Asia, leading to a noteworthy quantity of fatalities as well as a significant burden of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and years of life lost (YLLs). This highlights the necessity for continuous endeavors to alleviate air pollution and other hazardous elements linked with these ailments in the locality.
The mortality count arising from chronic respiratory ailments, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, in Southeast Asia was found to display gender-based variations, as per the results of the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2000 [
37] (
Figure 5). The displayed fatality count for males and females within the specified region during the year 2000 was ascertained. In the context of Cambodia, the number of male deaths was recorded as 1,661 while the number of female deaths was documented as 1,530. In contrast, Laos reported significantly lower numbers, with 229 deaths among males and 199 among females. The recorded deaths in Malaysia were 3,217 among males and 2,457 among females. Based on the data, there were 13,487 reported deaths among males and 10,586 reported deaths among females in Myanmar. The recorded number of deaths in Thailand was 13,051 for males and 9,638 for females. The mortality rate for males in Vietnam was 16,262, while for females it was 13,491. According to available data, the number of fatalities in Cambodia in 2010 was approximately 2,405 for males and 2,208 for females. In the country of Laos, the recorded count of male fatalities was 300, while the count of female fatalities was 259. The nation of Malaysia documented 4,486 male deaths and 3,318 female deaths. According to available data, the number of male fatalities in Myanmar was documented as 20,222, whereas the number of female fatalities was recorded as 16,093. The number of recorded deaths for males in Thailand was 15,384, whereas for females it was 11,348. The number of fatalities documented in Vietnam was 21,477 for males and 17,624 for females. The evaluation of mortality rates for males and females in the region during the year 2019 is presently underway. According to the mortality statistics of Cambodia, there were 4,327 documented deaths among males and 3,958 documented deaths among females. In Laos, the number of recorded deaths among males was 448, while the number of recorded deaths among females was 387. The recorded deaths in Malaysia were 6,491 for males and 4,851 for females. From the currently available data, the mortality rate in Myanmar reveals that there were 30,569 deaths among males and 24,429 deaths among females. The recorded deaths in the Philippines were 33,448 among males and 27,390 among females. The recorded number of deaths among males in Thailand was 23,284, whereas the recorded number of deaths among females was 16,903. The recorded deaths in Vietnam were 34,286 among males and 28,175 among females. In the study by Baptista et al. [
38], PM2.5 is strongly positively linked with chronic respiratory illness mortality, implying that increased particulate matter exposure increases mortality. Many Asian countries have experienced increased air pollution from both industry and motor vehicle emissions in the recent decade [
39]. Pollution is also caused by crop waste burning and bushfires in different Asian countries [
40,
41]. Furthermore, there was a rise in the incidence of asthma exposure to air pollution in the group of studies conducted on Asian populations investigated in the US-based Health Effects Institute (HEI) report [
42], with a risk score of >1 and 2, enhancing a possibility for air contaminants in driving up the incidence of asthma [
39].