30% premature deaths in India due to air pollution, claims CSE report
NEW DELHI: Pointing out to a strong connection between the environment and a person's health, a study released here on Monday held lifestyle diseases like obesity, mental health, cancer and heart diseases as the major killers in India.
Revealing the links of air pollution with mental diseases, a report by Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) stated that air pollution is responsible for 30 per cent of premature deaths in India, while every third child in Delhi suffers from lungs impairment.
"Over 61 per cent of total deaths in India were attributed to lifestyle or non-communicable diseases (NCDS). More than 1.73 million new cancer cases are likely to be recorded each year by 2020. Air pollution, tobacco, alcohol and diet change are primary triggers," said the report ‘Body Burden', released by CSE.
"Air pollution causes 30 per cent of all premature deaths in the country and is linked with mental diseases," the report added.
It further pointed out that every 12th Indian is a diabetic.
"India ranks second in the list of countries with highest diabetes patients," the report stated. It also establishes that unless environmental risk factors are acknowledged and dealt with, India will not be able to curb NCDS.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are four major risk factors for NCDS - alcohol, tobacco, poor diet intake and lack of physical activities.
These, the WHO claims, could be dramatically reduced by investing just USD 1-3 per year per person.
The CSE report, however, confronts the WHO estimation, asserting that much more investment would be required for India.
"We believe the cost is going to be much higher, considering that risk factors in India are many more than the four identified by the global body," said Sunita Narain, director general, CSE and member of the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Prevention and Control Authority.
Explaining the reasons, Narain said that the identified risk factors – alcohol, tobacco, poor diet, and lack of physical activity – have multiple targets and can cause diseases, which are not generally linked to them.