17Lakh respiratory infection cases in 4 years

New Delhi: Respiratory infections claimed 981 lives between 2013 and 2017 in Delhi, a parliamentary standing committee report on air pollution noted on Tuesday.

With Delhi seeing one of the worst pollution and smog episodes in the last two years, the number of people dying from acute respiratory infections (ARI) also rose rapidly.

Over 17 lakh cases of ARI were reported in Delhi between 2013 and 2017. The number of ARI cases recorded in 2017 was around 2,61,000.

Interestingly, the number of ARI cases in Delhi showed a decline from 3,90,170 in 2013 to 3,30,643 in 2105. However, in 2016 it shot up to 3,51,072.

The data, as per the National Health Profile, was presented along with the report to the Rajya Sabha and laid down in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Polluted air in Delhi is a significant risk factor for a number of pollution related diseases and health conditions, including respiratory infections, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, lung cancer, difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing, asthma, and worsening of existing respiratory and cardiac conditions.

Meanwhile, the ministry of health and family welfare submitted to the committee that the data collected from AIIMS in Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge Medical College, and RML Hospital is inconclusive of the increase or decrease of respiratory cases in respect to air pollution.

The committee also said it is “surprised” that the health ministry was not taken on board in a high-level task force on air pollution “which is, in a way, indicative of the ignorance as well as denial of the negative impact of air pollution on human health.”

The task force was set up under the chairmanship of the principal secretary of PMO and has drafted an action plan on air pollution with the involvement of several ministries.