Health minister wants capital’s air quality assessed

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice the rising air pollution in the federal capital, the health minister has written to the prime minister’s adviser on climate change to conduct an assessment of the air quality in the federal capital.

In the letter written by Federal Health Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Amin Aslam has been requested to carry out the air quality assessment so that necessary measures can be taken to protect the health of the federal capital’s residents.

Kiani said that climate change and deteriorating of quality of air in urban areas were a major source of issues affecting human health.

Air pollution principally affects the body's respiratory system and the cardiovascular system and may cause difficulty in breathing, wheezing, coughing, asthma and aggravation of existing respiratory and cardiac conditions.

“The declining quality of air is the biggest environmental issue in Islamabad,” Kiani wrote, adding that air pollution is a factor that you can’t control just through a healthy lifestyle.

The federal health minister pointed out that urban air pollution in terms of particulate matter is estimated to cause around 22,000 premature deaths among adults and 700 deaths among young children annually. Indoor air pollution causes the deaths of more than 30,000 children per year.

To address this, he said that a rapid assessment of particulate matter 10 and 2.5 may be measured in different locations, especially in the dense industrial zones of Sector I-9 and I-10 of the federal capital.

Moreover, particulate matter in industries will be measured through the Haz-dust Environmental Particulate Air Monitor-5000 (EPAM), available with the Environmental Protection Agency of the climate change ministry.

Noting that they do not have any funds available to cover the expenses of hiring staff, but the instrument could be used by EPA to conduct the assessment.

“Your support for this assessment project is required to help us in the measurement of PM level in different areas of Islamabad,” the health minister wrote, adding that he was taking a personal interest in it.

“I want to inform the Prime Minister Imran Khan about the health effects of the industrial pollution in Islamabad so that highest possible level of political commitment is achieved to deal with this issue in Islamabad first, and across the country later on.”

He urged Aslam to direct the EPA to extend its support to investigators the Health Services Academy in Islamabad to help conduct the assessment.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, April 15^th, 2019.