As the he United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms unfolds, the issue of SDS and human health is certain to gain prominence on the agenda of the seventy-eighth session of the World Health Assembly. 

 Every year, an estimated 2 billion tonnes of sand and dust, an amount equal in weight to 350 Great Pyramids of Giza, enter the atmosphere. Crossing borders silently and impacting millions globally, sand and dust storms are the 'underappreciated' extreme weather events, yet they profoundly affect the environment and the lives of hundreds of millions worldwide, across all continents.