Environment Degradation and Health

There is direct link between environmental degradation and the health of Indians. Every poison we put out into the environment comes right back at us, in our air, water and food. These poisons slowly seep into our bodies and take years to show up as cancer or as immune system disorder or as hormonal or reproductive system disorders.

Centre for Science and Environment’s (CSE) report, Body Burden: State of India’s Health (2015) provides that the tangible link between our environmental degradation and health. It lays emphasis on contaminated water, polluted air, climate change, sanitation, pesticides, forest degradation and lifestyle-related issues.

Air pollution

• Air pollution is one of the top 10 killers in the world and is the fifth leading cause of death in India.
• It results in about 620,000 premature deaths which are caused by stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections and trachea, bronchus and lung cancer, among others.
• The report highlights the heightened vulnerability of the poor.

Water and sanitation

• About 37.7 million Indians are affected by water-borne diseases annually.
• Around 1.5 million children die due to diarrhoea alone, and 73 million working days are lost due to water-borne illnesses each year. Estimates suggest India loses Rs 36,600 crore every year due to water-borne diseases.
• There is connection between water and sanitation and malnutrition, the report says that by 2015, the figure of malnutrition should have dropped to 26 per cent as per the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). But, the country fell short of the goal by seven per cent.
• Malnutrition is not just about access to food. Children who are constantly exposed to faecal microorganisms demonstrate environmental enteric dysfunction or EED, where the gut becomes permeable and brings microbial products in contact with blood. This leads to activation of the immune system which down-regulates the growth factors in the body and leads to stunting.
• States like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand where more people defecate in open, have more malnourished children, comparatively.

Climate change

• Climate change is leading to greater frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.
• India has seen an increase in vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria. The report states that the potential period of spread of malaria has increased to 10-12 months (almost the whole year) which is up from 4 to 6 months. This is because of increase in 2.4 degree global temperature.
• Farmers in India are facing the double blow of agrarian distress and extreme weather events as a result of climate change.

Forest degradation

• The diseases of animals that were confined to forests are now affecting humans, which include zoonotic diseases – as many as 2.7 million people die of these diseases every year. These diseases cause illnesses among 2.5 billion humans every year.
• Ebola, the killer virus, is one such disease-causing virus. It was first reported in 1976 and has exploded into a public health emergency. Loss of forests is linked to these diseases finding their way into human society.

Pesticides

• WHO estimates that say that 13.1 million people in India will die of cancer by 2030.
• This is 20 times than the current death toll in the country. “Increasing numbers of studies are establishing that the risk of getting cancer has more do with the state of one’s environment than his or her genetic makeup,” says the report, drawing a connection between cancer and pesticides and other factors.
• Noting that Punjab is the “cancer capital of India”, the report has presented evidence suggesting rampant use of pesticides in the state, and people’s exposure to these. Pesticides have found their way into tap water, ground water and food in Punjab, where incidence of cancer is almost twice the national average. Chemicals present in pesticides can suppress the immune system, triggering diseases that can be fatal.

Analysis:

• The way forward would be to reduce the source of air pollution—mainly revamping our transportation systems and forcing the industry to come up with cleaner technologies. But people are not aware of these linkages and continue to junk public transport
• We must focus on prevention and not treatment. We need to improve the environment, reduce the disease burden and save money in private or public healthcare
• Immediate environmental factors like access to clean drinking water and, most importantly, access to sanitation for both the mother and the child are decisive in determining children’s health.
• There should be proper regulation to use pesticides in the country. Globally, the maximum residue limits (MRLs) of pesticides are reviewed periodically to incorporate changes in dietary pattern and agricultural practices. But in India, MRLs for registered pesticides are incomplete and have not been reviewed periodically.

Dialing……mains (General Study paper 3: Enviornement and related issues)

Question:

Environmental degradation’s first assault is on our bodies and this is one of the biggest reasons why we try to protect the environment. Comment

By: Vishal