10-hospital study on impact of pollution

To access the exact adverse health impact of poor air quality in the national capital, the Indian Council of Medical Research will conduct a study with top city hospitals.

AIIMS, Patel Chest Institute and Lady Hardinge Hospital will participate in the year-long study that will specifically focus on finding out impact of poor air quality on respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.

According to the head of the department of pulmonology and sleep disorders, AIIMS, Dr Randeep Guleria, the study has been approved and funded by the ICMR. “The study will start in January and will be done till December. Then the analysis of the data will be done to find out the exact adverse impact of poor air quality on health,” said Dr Guleria.

Sharing the AIIMS experience, Dr Guleria said that has been observed that during the three months of winter, when the air quality is poor, patient inflow at the institute increases dramatically.

“Maximum number of patients come with respiratory and other related health issues caused due to pollution or poor air quality. During winter, chest infection takes more time to settle down,” added Dr Guleria.