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GDP, Air pollution affecting personal expenditure in Bengaluru

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By Kapil Kajal 

Bengaluru: Karishma Mallon (23), who hails from Mumbai and resides in Bengaluru for employment, is suffering from a skin allergy called atopic dermatitis. She has to spend Rs. 6000 for Medical Consultations and Rs: 3500 for medicine. Similarly, air pollution is causing illness in many people and people have to spend more money than they possibly earn, to escape it.

Similarly, Jaswinder Singh, 36, a local resident, said his five-year-old son was suffering from asthma. According to Jaswinder, when his son was 2 years old, he was riding a bike around the city, not using any masks at the time, and was unaware of the danger.

“At first I thought he was suffering from a common cough. But even after two weeks, his cough did not stop. He was then taken to the doctor. He use to wake up in the night and cough constantly for 10 minutes,” says Jaswinder. Jaswinder has to buy nebulizers worth Rs 4,000 and drugs worth Rs 3000 per month for his son.

With 7% or 63 Million below the Poverty line, this kind of treatment is out of their reach.

According to a World Health Organization study, 9 out of 10 people breathe air pollutants such as PM particles, ozone, nitrogen oxide, and sulfur dioxide in the air. Air pollution causes a number of health problems, including pneumonia, heart disease, chronic lung disease, lung cancer, and chronic respiratory infections, according to a World Health Organization study.

According to a study conducted in 2016, asthma was the most common disease in over 1000 people with symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR), COPD, and rhinosinusitis who were tested. According to the study, a patient who suffers from such diseases spends approximately Rs: 50 thousand annually on medical expenses and medications. In particular, the cost of treating a patient who is symptomatic at the initial stage of COPD (direct cost 50%), asthma (36.7%), AR (29.6%), and rhinosinusitis (24%) is included.

Rising treatment costs:
According to a health insurance company, the cost of treatment for lung cancer in India ranges from Rs 3 to Rs 3.7 lakh. Chennai and Hyderabad are known for their affordable prices, while New Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore are the most expensive cities in the country.

Dr. Laxman, professor of Indian Institute of Science H says air pollution in India has the worst impact on the economy. He explains that 52% of the health budget in India is devoted to diseases like asthma and AR, which are just respiratory illnesses caused by air pollution.

Chronic cough in Bengaluru has increased to 22% in 2018 from 8% in 1999 due to the increase in air pollution. According to one estimate, the city is spending Rs 85.20 crore on treatment. Air pollution is the cause of 70% of the diseases in Bangalore, so people have to spend billions of rupees on health care.

Impact on GDP
According to a World Bank study, air pollution has a greater impact on developing countries like India. Because 1.4 million people lose their lives. Around $ 50.5 billion is spent on labor welfare programs and $ 55.4 billion is lost due to downtime of workers caused by ill-health. India’s GDP suffered as much as 8.% since 2013 due to air pollution in increased workers’ welfare costs and lost labor.

According to a study, improving the transport sector will benefit India’s economy. Accordingly, measures such as the implementation of the BS6 standards for vehicles, the promotion of electric and hybrid vehicles, proper planning of traffic, and curbing traffic in order to reduce air pollution are proposed.

Member of the Governing Council of the Ecological Security of India Yellappa Reddy says that if people follow the necessary standards for preventing air pollution, people will be less likely to spend on health.

(The author is a  member of 101Reporters.com, a network of amateur writers and Indian correspondents based in Bangalore)

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