As schools reopened on Monday in the national Capital, many parents are worried after doctors opined that apart from facing common health problems like allergy, burning sensation in eyes, nasal congestion, chest pain, pneumonia, exacerbation of asthma, skin disorders etc, prolonged exposure to polluted air may even lead to lung cancer and heart failure later in child’s life.
If experts are to be believed there is one another big reason to worry, as according to them, a person may not encounter any significant problem in his normal routine life even if 40 per cent of his lungs are not working.
“Even if 40 per cent of a person’s lungs are not working, things may go normal in ones routine life,” said Dr KK Aggarwal, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA). On the other hand, those who frequently exercise can have a rough idea about any change in their breathing capacity. Considering, the present lifestyle of most of the school going children in metros which is more ‘passive’ rather than ‘active’, demanding less physical activity, the health alarm may be raised only after crucial damage to child lungs has already been done.
Dr NV Kamat, former Director Health Services, Delhi Government said children are already more prone to respiratory infections as they are in the stage of development and are less immune as compared to adults. “On the top of that the air pollution at such dangerous level further makes them vulnerable,” said Kamat.
He said the time is certainly not right for the children to step outside their homes hence schools should be immediately closed.
Another reason to worry is that the pollutants in air are making children smoke passively, said experts.
A principal of a Delhi Government school said on the condition of anonymity that students should take all precautions like wearing mask while steeping outside the house. He also advised parents to install air purifiers in their homes. However, he kept mum on Government’s decision of reopening the schools thus expressing his helplessness as ‘toxicity’ in Delhi’s air still hovering much above the normal benchmark and sending children to schools is nothing short of endangering their lives.