Pollution among the top risk factor for deaths in India

Long-term exposure to air pollution contributed to around 6.7 million deaths globally from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases, and neonatal diseases in 2019 with China (1.8 million) and India (1.6 million) together accounting for more than half of such deaths, says the annual ‘State of Global Air 2020’ report, released. While stating that air pollution is globally the fourth highest cause of death, the report says it is the largest risk factor for deaths for India, followed by high blood pressure. The report, however, notes the success of the ‘Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Household LPG’ programme, saying it helped dramatically expand access to clean energy, especially for rural households and helped reduce “household air pollution exposure”.