New Delhi, the most polluted capital on Earth, shows the way. One of its largest hospital centers has just created an outpatient clinic specialized in caring for people affected by pollution, with specialists from various disciplines. Three other hospitals will do so shortly. Today the reopening of its schools, closed last week due to severe contamination, is up in the air.
“Pollution-related diseases clinic,” reads a brand new sign at the Ram Manohia Lohia (RML). Its director, Ajay Shukla, explains that the center is a response “to the 30% increase in pollution in November and December.” This, he clarifies, “does not only affect the lungs”, hence the involvement from general medicine to specialists in respiratory medicine, otorhinolaryngologists, ophthalmologists, dermatologists and psychiatrists, because pollution peaks can induce depression.
To get an idea of the situation in India, note that while the level of PM2.5 particles was 47 in Barcelona this Saturday, on the border between “good” and “moderately acceptable”, in Delhi this week it reached 471. , ten times more, a level considered “harmful.” Although eight years ago, the three-digit meters reached their limit of 999. Since then, pollution has become a major problem in the Indian capital, which has contributed to the exodus of its wealthy classes and the foreigners with possible Those who have had no choice but to stay, the majority, have since resorted to shielding themselves with air-purifying devices.
Masks, which a few years ago were only worn by some Japanese tourists in Delhi, are now recommended for use. The emergency has led the Indian government to take proposals to cause artificial rain seriously. While the head of government of Delhi has been recommending teleworking for years. The symptoms of living “in a gas chamber”, as they are beginning to say in Delhi, go beyond the sensation of suffocation, dizziness and migraine. According to Dr. Akshay Budhraja, the defense mechanisms of the lungs and then the rest of the body decrease, favoring pneumonia, bronchitis, pharyngitis and conjunctivitis. If it becomes chronic, beyond causing anxiety, insomnia and worsening of diabetes and asthma, it can cause pulmonary obstruction, lung cancer, hypertension and heart attack. Some studies estimate five years of loss of life expectancy due to current pollution levels in India, and up to twelve in Delhi.
The opening of the clinic took place the day after Divali, a Hindu and Sikh festival in which millions of firecrackers and rockets are burned – although their sale is prohibited in Delhi – which further worsens air quality. To make matters worse, Divali usually coincides with the rice stubble burning season in neighboring Punjab, the agricultural heart of India. The resulting smoke causes, according to the Ministry of the Environment, between 34% and 48% of the aforementioned particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, the most carcinogenic. The winter, short but cold in northern India, also adds pollution from the poor quality charcoal used in braziers by millions of families with few resources.
