“Cardiovascular diseases [CVD] are a major cause of death and disability in India, and there is evidence to show that air pollution is likely to be a major contributor to CVD in India,” said Prabhakaran, vice-president, research and policy, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI).
He was speaking at a seminar on ‘Health Effects of Exposure to Air Pollution’, organised by Initiative on Climate, Energy and Environment at the Centre for Policy Research here on Wednesday.
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The event was part of a seminar series aimed at promoting sustained and informed public understanding around data, impact, sources and policy challenges involved in clearing Delhi’s air. The seminar series presented the work of experts in a range of areas to help promote informed public discussion about what changes are needed, what is possible, and how to get it done. “Most studies are deficient in exposure or outcome assessment and are based on RSPM, SPM and PM10. There is also little to no examination of cardioid-metabolic diseases — outcome and risk factors and pre-natal/early childhood exposure,” said Dr. Prabhakaran.
The panel also discussed the biological pathways and evidence on health effects coming from global evidence and in low and middle-income country settings like India.
Preet Dhillon, epidemiologist, senior scientific officer, PHFI, said: “Evidence and research has shown that lung cancer is the most common cancer. Exposure and health outcome data is often missing from the lower, middle income countries. For lung cancer, women and non-smokers have higher risks associated with air pollution.”
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