Leslie Ann Boctor

Air pollution is so bad in Cairo that living in the sprawling city of 18-million residents is said to be akin to smoking 20 cigarettes a day. According to the World Health Organisation, the average Cairene ingests more than 20 times the acceptable level of air pollution a day. A 2002 World Bank report estimates that pollution causes $2,42-billion-worth of environmental damage each year, about 5% of Egypt’s annual gross domestic product.