Air pollution caused 116,000 infant deaths in India last year
Household air pollution accounted for 64% of all neo-natal deaths attributable to air pollution. After a decline in pollution due to lockdown, pollution levels are again rising.
More than 116,000 infants in India died within a month of birth in 2019 due to air pollution — outdoor and indoor — according to the State of Global Air 2020 report released October 21, 2020.
The report, State of Global Air 2020, was released by the Health Effects Institute (HEI) in cooperation with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and the University of British Columbia.
The findings of the report are based on the most recent Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study published in the international medical journal, The Lancet last week.
The report, a comprehensive analysis of air pollution’s global impact on the newborn, found that outdoor and household particulate matter killed more than 116,000 Indian infants in their first month of life in 2019.
Globally, 476,000 infants died in their first month of life in 2019 from health effects associated with air pollution exposure.
India faced the highest per capita pollution exposure—or 83.2 μg/cubic metre — in the world, followed by Nepal at 83.1 μg/cubic metre and Niger at 80.1, according to the report, which sources its data from publicly available sources. Countries with the least population exposure are below 8 micrograms (μg) per cubic metre.
The government has claimed that average pollution levels in India are declining over the last three years but these have been marginal, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic plains, which see extremely high particulate matter pollution exposure particularly during winter.
For the youngest infants, most deaths were related to complications from low birth weight and premature birth – direct outcomes of mothers’ exposure to air pollution during pregnancy, found the study.
Although the link between air pollution and COVID-19 is not completely established, there is clear evidence linking air pollution and increased heart and lung disease. There is growing concern that exposure to high levels of air pollution during winter months in South Asian countries and East Asia could exacerbate the effects of COVID-19.
