Killer air

How much damage does air pollution do? While there are no official studies on the impact of air pollution in Pakistan, statistics from across the border offer a damning picture of what the impact could be in Pakistan. A recent study of the impact of India’s toxic air says that air pollution claimed 1.24 million lives in the country in 2017; that’s around 12.5 percent of the total deaths recorded in the year. Over 51 percent of this number includes people younger than 70 years of age. These are scary numbers, making air pollution amongst the highest killers in our neighbour. It is estimated that air pollution causes the average life span in India to be reduced by between 1.7 and 4 years. Air pollution is the cause of over a million lives lost in India as well as millions more suffering from serious quality of life issues.

This is not a crisis that can afford the neglect that both the Pakistani and Indian governments are known for. The warning signs have been there for over three decades – and we have hit critical point. It seems hard to recall but there was a time in the early 20th century when cities in the UK were known for a smog blanket. The average lifespan of a resident was under 40 years at the time. Through government inventions, that situation was reversed and the average lifespan was brought to over 80 years of age. This is not an impossible task, but it needs serious intervention by our governments. One serious issue is household pollution, which kills around 480,000 people each year in India. There are few that are looking to address this serious health concern. Cities such as Delhi and Lahore have had ‘severe’ to ‘hazardous’ air quality ratings in the past two months. We will need to start with public awareness campaigns – but this will require those in power to be aware of the seriousness of the issue themselves. Air pollution can no longer be tolerated.