Eureka Forbes, India’s leading health & hygiene company in association with Anti-Pollution Drive (APD) Foundation, a Mangalore-based non-profit organization, concluded a pulmonary lung function test for Bengaluru city traffic police to study the impact of rising air pollution.
At the first phase of this initiative, over a period of 5 days, pulmonary lung function test was conducted on 235 city traffic policemen by pulmonologists from St. John’s hospital.
The study revealed that 31% of the traffic cops had reduced lung functions. Additionally, the survey also found out that 20% of the traffic personnel had some form of respiratory symptoms. This is much higher than what was found in general population in the INSEARCH STUDY that looked at the epidemiology of asthma, respiratory symptoms and chronic bronchitis in adults, said Dr. Priya of St John’s Medical College.
“While there has been a significant increase in the awareness about vehicular, indoor and outdoor pollution in the country, there is a considerable lack of awareness of its long-term exposure on the health and well-being of people. Air pollution has both acute and chronic effects on human health, affecting a number of different systems and organs. Police personnel, especially those on duty on the roads or in police stations, located in congested areas, are prone to lung diseases caused by heavy vehicular traffic emissions, dust and industrial pollutants”, said Abdullah A Rehman, Founder APD Foundation.
Through this initiative, Eureka Forbes in association with APD Foundation aims to alleviate the problem of air pollution and improvise public health in the country. The collaboration will see a first of its kind study by completing 80% of the traffic personnel.
Sharing his thoughts on this initiative, Marzin Shroff, CEO- Eureka Forbes Limited said that India has been witnessing an alarming increase in air pollution over the past few months and vehicular pollution has been one of the major contributor. Through this initiative we aim to evaluate the impact of air pollution on the health of traffic cops.
|