India's disease burden will reduce by a third if PM2.5 level is cut by 30%

HEALTH DASHBOARD

- JITENDRA CHOUBEY @ New Delhi

THE Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-Delhi) and climate advocacy organisation Climate Trends have launched an evidence-based tool called the Health Benefit Assessment Dashboard to demonstrate that a 30 per cent reduction in PM2.5 air pollution levels, compared to 2024 projections, could significantly decrease the prevalence of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, pulmonary diseases and anaemia nationwide by one-third.

The current nationwide disease prevalence stands at 4.87 pc, according to the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). If the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) target of a 30 pc reduction in PM2.5 levels is achieved, this prevalence could drop to 3.09 pc.