BEIJING, April 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Pollution and environmental degradation increasingly threaten the health of East Asia and Pacific's rapidly urbanizing population, according to two new environmental reports from the World Bank.

    Water-borne diseases now cause half a million infant deaths annually in the region and air pollution causes thousands of premature deaths. Each year in China 50,000 people die prematurelydue to pollution just from coal burning, according to the World Bank's new Environment Strategy for the East Asia and Pacific region.

    These trends are a growing concern as more people move to the region's already crowded cities.

    More than 39 percent of the region's 1.8 billion people now live in cities, according to the World Bank's annual compendium ofenvironmental data, the Little Green Data Book 2005. By 2015, according to the Environment Strategy, urban areas will be home tomore than 50 percent of the region's population.

    This growth presents huge environmental challenges, as migration to urban areas in many countries outpaces the ability ofcities to provide clean water and sanitation infrastructure. For example, a quarter of the region's population doesn't have access to clean drinking water and more than half lack access to basic sanitation, according to the Little Green Data Book 2005.

    Jemal-ud-din Kassum, the World Bank Vice President for East Asia and the Pacific, said East Asia's economy is growing more quickly than any other region. Improvements in human welfare are being offset by serious environmental issues.

    Environmental damage is also degrading many ecological servicesand natural protections. For example, tsunami in the Indian Ocean last year highlights the importance of protecting the environment.The degradation of protective coastal mangrove forests and coral reefs contributed in part to the magnitude of the disaster.

    The World Bank is actively engaged in a wide range of environmental initiatives in East Asia and Pacific. It has developed a 5.3 billion US dollar portfolio of environmental and natural resource management projects in the region, which is complemented by its Global Environment facility funding of 500 million US dollars in environment grants.

    Between 1995 and 2003, the bank helped governments phase out 89,000 tons of ozone-depleting substances. This was more than any other region in the world. The bank has also focused on providing sanitation services for the urban poor and addressing threats to the region's biodiversity.

    The new regional Environment Strategy calls for the bank to proactively support environment policies and to seek effective engagement with development partners, both locally and at the regional level.

    Managing coastal resources, including tsunami recovery initiatives, is a priority for the bank. Community-based projects and efforts to protect coasts and coral reefs are already underwayin several countries.

    Regional collaboration will be especially important in the development of disaster-prevention efforts and early warning mechanisms, such as the recently proposed tsunami alert system. Enditem