Hasnain Gul
Quetta: The infants suffering from diseases that can caused by air pollution are childhood asthma issues, respiratory infections, and pneumonia says Dr Arif Kakar a Child ENT Specialist from Provincial Sandmen Hospital Quetta. I don’t have exact data but the number of infants facing these diseases increased day by day since I joined my duty. Most of the time infants who come to us are suffering from allergies, headaches, and reddish eyes which are also caused by air pollution.
The issue is they came to us off and on multiple times and did not fully recover because of the polluted air and environment of Quetta City. If we compare them season-wise in the summer season the diseases related to the respiratory system like a chest infection, flu, and fever increase. The immune system of infants is vulnerable compared to adults and diseases like pneumonia and asthma can cause some deaths also. In 2017 we experienced some cases who died due to respiratory infections.
Responding to the question regarding the health of the child during pregnancy he says that if any woman suffers from any sickness or illness and takes proper medication for asthma or any other respiratory issue it is not harmful to the baby but if the medication stops before getting fully fit it can harm the health of a child. Nowadays, the government has to take some steps timely to clean the air quality of the city because air pollution is a great danger to the health of newly born child, especially as citizens, we also try to take care of our environment and try to make it clean for our next generation.
According to the data of the World Health Organization (WHO), every country with low or high economies that exceed the WHO guidelines suffers from high exposure or air pollution. Air pollution can cause severe diseases both in cities and rural areas. It can cause stroke, lung cancer, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.
IQ Air, claims that over 7 million people died from poor air quality. According to IQ Air, Quetta is one of the most polluted cities in the world. The main reasons for pollution are the increasing population of the city, crushing plants in and around the city, and the increase in the vehicles around the city which can use poor fuel quality which is dangerous for the environment. The air quality index shows how much air is polluted and how it severe is for our environment.
The best air quality index is between 0 to 50 AQI, more than 50 to 500 is considered as polluted air which is severe for the health of citizens. Unfortunately, the AQI of Quetta city is more than 50 and the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) takes initiatives to improve the quality of air says Director General EPA Yasir Khan. The enforcement team of EPA taking measures and assessments to control air pollution in the city as well as in the whole province. Responding to the question regarding dangerous diseases caused by air pollution DG EPA says there are two aspects of producing pollution in air. The very first is the smoke emission from factories, vehicles, and burning solid waste, we take serious action on these issues from the platform of the EPA our enforcement team along with law enforcement agencies to overcome the air pollution severity. However, the second aspect of air pollution is climate change in the region which does not lie under the jurisdiction of EPA.
On the upcoming World Environment Day, we foster the theme of making your environment safe and healthy, we put some proposals to the government and more positive steps are undertaken. The issue of crushed plants in Quetta is overcome because of the decision of the Supreme Court is crushing plants have been replaced far away from the city to control air pollution in the city area. All crush plants in Quetta City are dismantled. As a government agency representative, I suggest that every citizen has to play his role in saving our environment from air pollution. The one main thing is that the government plant trees every year, and the citizens should protect trees by watering those trees at least as their environmental duty. It will be a start to overcoming air pollution in the city.
