New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS) The national capital has reported 68,411 cases of acute respiratory infections (ARI) and 10,819 hospital admissions in 2024 due to worsening air pollution, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Prataprao Jadhav, highlighted the rising burden of air pollution-related illnesses in urban areas.
“Air pollution is one of the triggering factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases,” the Minister said.
He noted that the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is carrying out sentinel surveillance of air pollution-related illnesses through a network of over 230 centres across 30 states and UTs.
To strengthen monitoring, the government also launched an Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) digital surveillance system in August 2023 through the Integrated Health Information Portal (IHIP).
Sharing Delhi-specific data from six sentinel sites — AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, LHMC, RML, NITRD, and VPCI — Jadhav said 67,054 ARI cases and 9,878 hospitalisations were recorded in 2022. This rose to 69,293 cases in 2023, though hospitalisations dropped slightly to 9,727.
However, he clarified that there is “no conclusive data available in the country to establish a direct correlation of deaths or diseases exclusively due to air pollution”, adding that health effects are influenced by multiple factors such as food habits, socio-economic conditions, medical history, and immunity.
The Health Ministry issues annual advisories on air pollution to states and provides Air Quality Index (AQI) reports, alongside preparedness and response mechanisms for health facilities across the country.
