When considering the link between exposure to air pollution and health problems, mental health may not seem an obvious connection to draw to breathing toxic air. However, research has indicated a link between the two in the past – and a recent paper indicates that exposure to air pollution increases the risk of developing depression […]
air quality
Air pollution action needed: WHO official
As a report reveals the sizeable death toll due to air pollution in India, a senior World Health Organization (WHO) official has urged the country to take action on it. “Urgent action” is required to address pollution, according to Dr Maria Neira, director of the WHO Department of Public Health, Environment and Social Determinants of […]
India’s pollution crisis: 2 million lives a year
Air pollution continues to claim millions of lives every year with India leading the world in this regard. More than two million lives are lost to breathing toxic air in the country every year, in a grim reminder that India’s pollution crisis is among the leading threats to its environment and to public health. The […]
Javadekar criticised by the WHO over pollution claims
Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar has been criticised by the World Health Organization (WHO) for claims about air pollution and its effects on human health. “Let us not create a fear psychosis among people,” Javadekar told MPs last week. “Indian studies have not shown a correlation between shortening of life […]
‘No conclusive evidence’ – Government on pollution, disease and deaths
Air pollution is virtually universally acknowledged as a public health emergency in India, with swathes of the country choking beneath blankets of toxic air. However, a Government minister has informed lawmakers that there is a dearth of evidence to prove a link between pollution, disease, and deaths. “There is no conclusive data available in the […]
Committee meeting on pollution amidst public health emergency
Multiple parts of India are gripped by a public health emergency owing to catastrophic levels of air pollution. To address the issue, a parliamentary standing committee will meet on December 5th. An earlier planned session saw multiple lawmakers neglecting to attend, warranting the need for greater scrutiny. The Standing Committee on Urban Development will congregate […]
Pollution deaths: India leads the G20
India leads the G20 nations in the number of pollution deaths according to recent reports. In 2017, the effects of pollution led to the deaths of 1.2 million people in India. The environment in which this occurs is patently conducive to such a high death toll due to poor air quality. India is home to […]
If you step out, you can smell smoke in the air: Professor Aseem Prakash on Delhi’s pollution crisis
India is in the midst of a pollution crisis, with air quality plummeting to emergency levels in the national capital of Delhi. Against this backdrop, Health Issues India interviewed Professor Aseem Prakash – Professor of Political Science, the Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Founding Director of the Center […]
Non-smokers falling prey to lung cancer
The use of tobacco is widely understood as a risk factor for the development of lung cancer. However, in the National Capital Region (NCR), doctors report rising rates of lung cancer among non-smokers. “When I started operating on cancer patients in 1988, I found their lungs were pink,” Dr Arvind Kumar, chairman of the Centre […]
Eye health at risk in Delhi thanks to pollution
Pollution is associated with a plethora of detrimental health effects – and eye health is among the facets of wellbeing which take a hit when pollution levels are high. Delhi is currently grappling with a major pollution crisis, with air quality levels plummeting to the extent that a public health emergency was declared in the […]