Workshop on Global Burden of Disease: Air Pollution amongst top killers in India

A joint initiative of the Centre for Science and Environment, Indian Council of Medical Research and Health Effects Institute

Venue: Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi
Date: February 13, 2013 (Wednesday)
Time: 1 pm - 6 pm

Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) organised a dialogue workshop on ‘Burden of Disease: Air Pollution among top killers’ at New Delhi on February 13, 2013 in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and Health Effects Institute, Boston US. This workshop brought together the prominent medical doctors, health experts, air quality regulators and international scientists to discuss the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) report, prepared by a network of international health bodies. The report has shown air pollution as one of the top 10 killers in the world. In South Asia, air pollution ranked as the sixth most dangerous killer. Outdoor air pollution is now three places behind indoor air pollution, which is the second highest killer in this region.

The scientists involved with the study released the India and South Asia-specific findings at this workshop. Outdoor air pollution has become the fifth largest killer in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution, tobacco smoking, and poor nutrition. The report says that in 2010, about 620,000 premature deaths occurred in India from air pollution-related diseases.

CSE flagged off the air pollution and health concerns in India and presented the air quality data and findings of the survey on air pollution and health in Delhi. The air quality analysis exposes severe air pollution trends in India. The national air quality analysis shows that half of urban population breathes air with particulate levels that exceed the permissible limit and one third of the urban Indians live in critically polluted areas. CSE’s health survey in Delhi captures angst and worries of Delhiites. The survey shows majority of Delhiites say air pollution has worsened and blame rising number of vehicles for it.

The panelists who participated in the discussions were Kesav Desiraju, secretary, Union ministry of health and family welfare; Sanjiv Kumar, environment secretary of Delhi; Rashid Hasan, director, Union ministry of environment and forests; Vinod Raina, head, Department of Medical Oncology, AIIMS; S K Chhabra, head, Department of Cardiorespiratory Physiology, Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute; Randeep Guleria, head, Department of Pulmonary Medicine, AIIMS; Sanjeev Bagai, CMD, Nephron Clinic and Health Care; and Kalpana Balakrishnan, director, ICMR Center for Advanced Research on Environmental Health, Sri Ramanchandra University. of the Sri Ramchandra Medical College and Research Institute. Aaron Cohen, principal scientist of the Health Effects Institute and chair of the Air Pollution Group of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation for Global Burden of Disease released the findings of the study. Daniel Greenbaum, president and Robert O Keefe, vice president, HEI, also shared the findings of the GBD assessment. This workshop discussed the implications of the GBD findings on outdoor air pollution for future action in Indian cities.

For details, contact:

Priyanka Chandola
Right To Clean Air Campaign
Centre for Science and Environment
Tel: +91 – 9810414938 (Mobile)
Email: priyanka@cseindia.org