Air pollution is India's biggest health crisis after Corona (Photo- ANI)
PTI, New Delhi. About five years ago, the Corona epidemic wreaked havoc all over the world including India. This crisis has now gone away, but doctors are expressing concern about a new crisis in India.
The situation will worsen every year
UK-based doctors of Indian origin have warned that the biggest health crisis India is facing after the Corona pandemic is air pollution. Respiratory disease experts of Indian origin have warned that if concrete steps are not taken immediately, the situation will worsen over the years.
Experts said that the crisis of respiratory diseases in the country is gradually becoming worse. This has not been properly identified yet nor are adequate steps being taken to solve it.
Fear of major crisis of respiratory diseases in India
Many senior doctors practicing in Britain said that there is a possibility of a major crisis of respiratory diseases in India. The wave of these diseases could have long-term impacts on Indian citizens and India's healthcare system.
He said the increase in heart disease cases worldwide over the past decade was not just due to obesity, but was largely due to toxic emissions from urban transportation, including cars and planes. This problem is especially serious in India and Britain.
Big crisis of respiratory diseases
Manish Gautam, consultant respiratory disease specialist at 'Liverpool' and former member of India's Covid-19 advisory committee, said, the bitter truth is that millions of people living in North India have already been harmed. The steps being taken recently are very little. The big crisis of respiratory diseases is gradually increasing in front of us.
He appealed to policymakers to focus on early detection and treatment of respiratory diseases and consider creating rapid response 'task forces'.
Suffered from respiratory problems for the first time
According to doctors, in December alone, a 20 to 30 percent increase was seen in the number of patients suffering from respiratory diseases in Delhi hospitals, a large number of which are those patients who are suffering from respiratory problems for the first time.
Gautam said that pollution control and prevention measures are important, but now these measures alone will not suffice. India has already shown that it is possible to run health programs on a large scale.
Reduces the impact of TB to a great extent
Government measures have reduced the impact of TB to a great extent through early diagnosis and well-planned treatment programmes. Now similar urgency and large-scale action is required for respiratory diseases also.
According to Rajay Narayan, honorary cardiologist at St George's University Hospital, London, if this crisis is not resolved in time, it will further increase both the health and economic burden. He said that there is many scientific evidences which show that air pollution is the cause of many serious diseases. These include cardiovascular diseases and respiratory diseases.
Many early symptoms, such as headache, fatigue, mild cough, throat irritation, dry eyes, skin rashes and frequent infections, are often ignored but can be early warning signs of serious chronic diseases, he said.
Bullet train project work halted due to violation of pollution norms
Amidst the increasing air pollution in Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), taking strict action, has immediately stopped the construction work of the ongoing Mumbai-Ahmedabad Bullet Train Project in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC). This action was taken after the inspection revealed that pollution control rules were ignored.
This decision has been taken at a time when recently the Bombay High Court had strongly reprimanded BMC over air pollution in the city and raised questions on construction activities. The court had clearly warned that if the situation did not improve, approval for new construction works could be stopped.
According to municipal officials, several standards related to dust control and air quality management were not met at the BKC site. Due to this, work suspension notice has been issued to the contractors and all digging, soil removal and land related construction work has been stopped.