Govt to take lung function tests mobile

Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the government was planning the tests from early next year as a “first step” to understand the health impact of air pollution. “Doctors say they are witnessing high incidence of respiratory cases, and cases usually spike when air pollution is high. We will try to see the status of respiratory problems from the community,” said Jain.

While there are no immediate plans to issue health advisories based on air pollution, government sources said the tests will be the first step to understand the magnitude of the problem. “This data will give us a population-specific data for the city, which will be a baseline for any health advisory. We will then know whether a lot of people suffer from compromised lung function, and how many of them are office-goers or students. Then, advisories can be issued accordingly,” said a senior official.

While there have been suggestions from experts and advisory bodies including the Delhi Dialogue Commission to consider closing schools on poor air quality days, the government has not announced any such move so far.

The Delhi government environment department will also start collecting air samples from stationary and hand held machines at 200 places in the city, to get real-time data on air quality.

“Hand-held devices will be placed near traffic signals or bus depots like Anand Vihar to give us an idea of the actual level of pollutants that are inhaled. Scientists have done this in the past for research, but this will be the first time the government will take such a step as a policy initiative,” said the official. Display boards will be put up at these locations to show the real-time results, added the official.

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