India to Form An Air Pollution Institute of Research Council

Burning fossil fuels releases gases and chemicals into the air, and in an especially destructive feedback loop, air pollution not only contributes to climate change but is also exacerbated by it. To have a cleaner and safer environment, top medical experts, with different specialities across the country, came together, for an inaugural meeting, to form a body known as Air Pollution Institute of Research (AIR) Council in Mumbai. The platform is to establish the urgency of the impact of air pollution in India. The council aims to define and establish the need of recognising the health hazards of air pollution as a clinical issue and formulate a framework on how the common man can protect himself, his family and the community from its ill-impacts.

After a detailed discussion on the matter, the council will release a white paper based on their research and knowledge, formulate a structure for clinical conversation (for disease diagnosis) and come up with preventive solutions. They will update about the do's and don'ts that can be adapted by people across the globe. The council aims to educate and enable both doctors as well as common man.

The AIR Council chaired by Dr. Ashok Mahashur, constitutes eight founding members from different parts of the country. According to WHO, 92 percent of the world's population lives in places where air quality levels exceed the actual limits. Almost one in four deaths of children under five years of age is attributed to polluted environment.

According to a recent WHO report, as many as 1.2 million deaths take place every year due to air pollution with Delhi being India's most polluted city. These alarming facts create an urgent need for an initiative like this to help humans cope with the effects of the situation at hand.

Source-ANI