Over 99.3% of India’s population breathes polluted air that is above the standards set by WHO. According to the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), an average Indian could increase life expectancy by 6.3 years, if the WHO guidelines on air quality are met. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the Director-General of the World Health Organization has called Air Pollution the New Tobacco! It is one of the major factors contributing to Climate Change which is declared as Code Red by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Delivering his address during the event, Padmashree Dr. Kameshwar Prasad, Director RIMS said,” This program is happening in the right time when we are facing many new diseases and new normal for health in current times. We need more research and action from medical fraternity to combat climate change issue. This event is opening doors for doctors and medical students to speak out and contribute towards clean and sustainable future.”
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Atri Gangopadhyay, East Zone Governor and National Spokesperson, Chest Council of India Consultant pulmonologist, Pulse hospital, Ranchi during the workshop said : “World health day is for health for everyone in this world….. promote health education in all fields for a healthy world”
Presenting her research on Climate Change and Human health, Dr. Apoorva Wasnik said,” the effect of air pollution has deeply impacted lives of marginalized community. Jharkhand with it’s mining areas may face severe effects of air pollution and climate change.”
Also speaking on the occasion, Deepak Bara, Senior Project Manager, SwitchON Foundation Jharkhand said; “The primary objective of the programme is to create a group of Future Medical Practitioners who would learn about the relevant issues of air pollution and create awareness, thus enabling necessary policy action and citizen empowerment across.
He further added that, “The World Health Day is a timely and necessary reminder to the existential threat that ecological degradation poses to planetary and human health. Medical Students who are the future of healthcare experts, can make a significant contribution in this awareness”
As mentioned earlier, the event also saw interaction between medical students and the daily wage earners of the informal sector. The interaction has been seen as a way to enable medical students to evaluate important understanding of the state of health of these impoverished sections of the society, and develop further research ideas.
The informal sector which manages the toxic waste of our cities and deals with exposure to air pollution while they work are known to use rudimentary methods with little or no protection against health and environmental hazards. These communities often sift through waste at dump yards before it is treated and live in the vicinity of dumpsites to obtain a livelihood. Many work as street vendors and transporters exposed to fossil fuels emission with no solution at their disposal.
They typically lack access to sanitary and healthcare facilities. Furthermore, child labour is quite prevalent with low life expectancy. Sadly, waste pickers and menial workers are not covered under any labour legislation. As a result, they do not benefit from social security and medical insurance schemes.
Due to the poor living and working conditions, malnutrition, anemia and tuberculosis are common among them. Also exposure to various hazardous fumes at disposal sites results in respiratory problems. Notably, the prevalence of dyspnoea (difficulty in breathing) and chronic cough has been found to be higher among waste pickers.
Speaking on during the event one of the representative of the student medical ambassador said.“The programme has been great learning for all of us, and has provided us a great opportunity to understand the external dynamics, adding value to our medical education”
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