CMAAO CORONA FACTS and MYTH Air Quality Management Plan

Author :Dr K Aggarwal President CMAAO, HCFI, With input from Dr Monica Vasudev

India

healthysoch

New Delhi, March 07, 2021 :

Round Table – Expert Group on Environment Zoom Meeting on “Local Area Air Quality Management Plan – How to Prepare and Implement”-28th February, 2020, 12 noon-1 pm

Participants

Dr KK Aggarwal

Dr Anil Kumar

Dr Dipankar Saha

Dr M Dwarkanath

Mr Vikas Singhal

Ms Meenakshi Dhote

Dr SK Tyagi

Mr Chandra Bhushan Sharma

Mr SA Verma

Mr Pankaj Kapil

Mr Neeraj Tyagi

Dr Shyam Gupta

Dr S Sharma

Key points from the discussion

• There are several action plans for control of air quality in place in Delhi.
• Despite no crop burning, air quality was in severe category indicating a high contribution of local air pollution.
• Hence, there is a need for local air quality management.
• The first air pollution act was passed in ’81-82. Earlier, the CPCB and other regulatory bodies were involving communities in decisions as well as implementation of the government plans. But, now the local people are not involved in discussions on environmental problems and implementations of programs.
• Local problems differ from ward to ward; they are not uniform across the city.
• CPCB and the Environment ministry can help local bodies to develop a workable program.
• Presently it is a government-driven approach; instead it should be community-driven approach.
• The focus should be to improvement the environment, in total, in the local area and not just air pollution. Think of environment as one unit.
• City planning and design of the building influences air quality. Microclimatic variations in big cities have major impact on air pollution pattern.
• Source control and a sustainable approach are required.
• We need environmental management system, environmental support system and environmental surveillance system for health security. For this we need, adequate information, knowledge and implementation practices.
• Data that is generated is not being used.
• Doctors should take the lead and tell the regulator about what is need to reduce the health hazards of pollution. Participation of sociologists in these programs is almost negligible. Integration is missing. It has now become a subject of discussion only for the government and researchers.
• Political support at the local level is needed.
• There should be a robust mechanism for forecasting at the ground level.
• Roles and responsibilities at the citizens’ level are needed.
• Gaps remain in the implementation of pollution control programs in terms of participation of all stakeholders and awareness.
• All stakeholders should be officially integrated in the action plan.
• Ambient air has no boundaries. This means that local sources and transboundary issues are equally important.
• Air quality is very linked to meteorological conditions: wind speed and wind direction in particular.
• The problem of air pollution should be tackled under five heads: Source apportionment, best practices that can be followed by the community should be encouraged; mandatory practices that can be made mandatory; regulations; enforcement and penalization. A multipronged approach is required.
• Community participation is lagging at present.
• The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region also mentions the need for a three-tier system to tackle monitoring and identification, safeguarding and enforcement and R&D.
• The current policies do not address the problems of the economically weak section. It is important to first recognise the problems. Policy interventions are needed at the very lower level.
• ACD formula: Analyse, Clean and Deliver.
• Action plans are there but have not percolated down to the public. They need to be massively disseminated to the public.
• Action plans should be location specific and area specific i.e. suited to local needs.

A World Health Organization team investigating the origins of COVID-19 is planning to scrap an interim report on its recent mission to China amid mounting tensions between Beijing and Washington over the investigation and an appeal from one international group of scientists for a new probe, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

In Geneva, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said in an email reply: “The full report is expected in coming weeks”. On the advice of its independent data monitoring committee (DMC), the RECOVERY trial has stopped recruitment to the colchicine arm for lack of efficacy in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Guideline Development Group (GDG) is strongly advising against the use of hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19. The group says the drug should no longer be a research priority. The recommendations are based on evidence from six randomised controlled trials involving over 6,000 participants with and without known exposure to a person with COVID-19 infection.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an alert to consumers, healthcare providers, and other users of thermal imaging systems that measure body temperature that improper use may produce inaccurate readings. The systems have been used to check for fevers in schools, workplaces, airports, groceries, and other public buildings, and are offered as a first line of defense in opening up safely during the pandemic. However, it may miss that key indicator of coronavirus infection, according to new research by the surveillance research organization IPVM. The research is set for publication in the Journal of Biomedical Optics, according to the Washington Post.

healthysoch