NEW DELHI: Over 2 lakh patients with acute respiratory illnesses (ARI) were reported to emergency departments, and more than 30,000 required hospitalisation between 2022 and 2024 at six central hospitals in Delhi, including AIIMS, Safdarjung and RML, with air pollution suspected as a major cause, revealed data shared by the parliament.
According to the data shared by the Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, in the Rajya Sabha, the national capital recorded 68,411 cases of ARI in hospitals’ emergency in 2024. Of them, 10,819 required hospitalisation.
The data also revealed that 69,293 such patients were logged in 2023 and 67,054 in 2022. Meanwhile, hospitalisation remained at 9,727 and 9,828 in 2023 and 2022 respectively.
The information came out during question raised by Congress MP Rajani Ashokrao Patil, where she asked whether the Health Ministry has studied the correlation between rising air pollution and respiratory diseases in urban areas and the rise in OPD and hospital admissions due to asthma, COPD, and lung infections in metro cities from 2022 to 2024.
"Air pollution is one of the triggering factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases," said Jadhav. The MoS noted that the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) conducts sentinel surveillance of air pollution-related illnesses through the network of more than 230 sentinel surveillance sites spanning across 30 states/UTs. Further, in August 2023, the government launched Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) digital surveillance through the Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP).
However, Jadhav noted that "there is no conclusive data available in the country to establish direct correlation of death or disease exclusively due to air pollution."
"Health effects of air pollution are a synergistic manifestation of factors, which include food habits, occupational habits, socio-economic status, medical history, immunity, heredity, etc., of individuals," he explained.
The Ministry of Health also issues health advisories on air pollution to all states every year to support them in preparedness for such health problems at all levels of health care facilities across the country. Health sector preparedness and response mechanisms on air pollution and health-related issues, such as Air Quality Index (AQI) reports, are also shared with states for preparedness and response mechanisms, the Minister said.