Karachi [Pakistan], December 11 (ANI): Karachi is confronting a severe health emergency this winter as hospitals report a sharp rise in respiratory infections linked to deteriorating air quality.
Health experts say government inaction on enforcing environmental standards and controlling emissions has driven pollution to dangerous levels, threatening millions, Dawn reported. Pulmonologists, internal medicine specialists and ENT doctors warned air pollution has become a leading cause of lung disease in the city.
“This winter, we have seen a significant rise in influenza and related respiratory illnesses,” said Javaid Ahmed Khan, senior pulmonologist at Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH). He said routine flu cases frequently progress to acute bronchitis and pneumonia, particularly in vulnerable patients.
Khan noted a troubling long-term trend: a steep increase in interstitial lung disease (ILD) over the past two decades. “In the 1990s, ILD was extremely rare. Today, we see around 100 patients every week at AKUH,” he said, blaming toxic air. An AKUH study published in Atmospheric Pollution Research found short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) raises hospital admissions for respiratory problems by 30–40%.
Senior ENT specialist Qaiser Sajjad reported a sharp rise in upper respiratory infections, worsened by winter, and urged treating air pollution as a public health emergency. Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said tuberculosis cases have also increased, with poor air quality weakening lung defences, Dawn noted.
The Pakistan Air Quality Initiative (PAQI) 2024 report confirms Karachi’s decline: an average PM2.5 level of 46.2 µg/m³ — about nine times the World Health Organization’s safe limit and roughly three times Pakistan’s standard. The report cites continued failure to implement monitoring and emission controls.
Experts called for immediate government measures to cut vehicular and industrial emissions, improve waste management and expand tree plantation to avert an escalating environmental and health crisis, Dawn reported. (ANI)
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