‘ Air pollution is key risk factor for lung disease’

Air pollution was the leading risk factor for chronic obstructive lung disease in India in 2016 followed by smoking, said a comprehensive analysis of several major non- communicable diseases released on Wednesday.

The Global Burden of Disease Study 1990- 2016, published on Wednesday, also said that the number of chronic obstructive lung disease cases in India increased from 28 million to 55 million over a 26- year period. “The time trends in chronic respiratory disease burden in the states of India emphasise the urgency for strategies to prevent and control these diseases, including multi- sectoral efforts to reduce risk factors such as exposure to ambient air pollution,” said the findings.

The India State- level Disease Burden initiative was a joint initiative of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Public Health Foundation of India, and Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in collaboration with the ministry of health and family welfare along with experts and stakeholders associated with over 100 Indian institutions.

“India has a disproportionate burden of chronic respiratory diseases, with 32 per cent of the global DALYs or health loss from these diseases,” it said.

Disability adjusted life years or DALYs are years of healthy life lost

to premature death and suffering. DALYs are the sum of years of life lost and years lived with disability.

The prevalence and age- standardised DALY rate of chronic obstructive lung disease were highest in the relatively less developed North Indian states in 2016 with a four- fold variation in DALY rate across the states of India.