In a significant scientific breakthrough that connects air quality and public health, Climate Trends and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi have jointly launched the Health Benefit Assessment Dashboard.
What is the Health Benefit Assessment Dashboard?
This interactive tool translates the impacts of long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) into tangible health outcomes across 641 Indian districts, based on the data set of the 5th National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5).
The dashboard demonstrates that meeting the National Clean Air Programme's (NCAP) ambitious 2024 target to reduce PM2.5 levels by 30 percent could potentially reduce the nationwide prevalence of several critical diseases by nearly a third. The health benefits are particularly pronounced among women of reproductive age and children under five, two groups that are the most vulnerable to air pollution.
Among women aged 15 to 49 years, diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease, and anemia have a strong association with exposure to polluted air.
Currently, diabetes prevalence stands at 1.7 per cent, but this could fall to 1.4 per cent if NCAP targets are achieved. Hypertension rates could decline by 2 to 8 percentage points, with the most substantial improvements expected in northern states such as Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi. Similarly, COPD and heart disease rates could drop by as much as 12 and 10 per cent, respectively, in heavily polluted regions like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Notably, anemia will see reductions of 3 to 8 per cent nationwide, with the most significant gains in Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal.
Children would enjoy better health, too. There could be significant improvements in lower respiratory infections (LRI), low birth weight (LBW), and anemia. The Indo-Gangetic Plain, along with eastern states like Bihar, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh, currently faces the highest burden of child morbidity. For instance, Bihar could see a reduction in LRI prevalence from 9.89 to 9.37 per cent, while LBW rates in Punjab and West Bengal might decrease by around one percentage point. Anemia reduction among children will also follow a similar pattern.
Detailed health improvements across the country
The dashboard highlights northern and eastern India as the key regions that stand to gain the most from cleaner air due to their elevated pollution levels and population densities. However, improvements are seen nationwide, including in southern states and urban union territories where baseline health burdens are lower but still consequential.
Experts at the launch emphasised that while scientific evidence linking air pollution and health risks is robust, the communication gap between science, policymakers, and the public remains a critical barrier to effective action. Dr Virinder Sharma of the Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi NCR stressed that air pollution is a “silent emergency” and its impacts are easy to underestimate.
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan from the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation highlighted indoor air pollution’s significant role, especially for women and children, urging governance reforms like setting up an Environmental Health Regulatory Agency that can integrate air quality with broader environmental health risks. She also pointed out the gender equity dimension, given women’s disproportionate exposure to biomass cooking fuels, despite increased LPG adoption through schemes like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana.
Several experts called for strengthening governance by instituting high-level commissions chaired jointly by health and environment ministries to tackle air pollution as a national health crisis rather than a regional nuisance. Expanded financing through climate, health, and development budgets was recommended to support a national institutional framework capable of enforcing science-based policies.
There were also calls to revamp the NCAP targets in light of emerging evidence and to elevate air quality issues on global forums where India could assume a leadership role.
Experts also underscored the necessity of starting interventions at the local level, such as solid waste management by municipalities, while improving inter-sectoral coordination to produce tangible outcomes. They were also of the view that while science continues to generate data, policymakers and citizens need clearer, relatable messaging that connects cleaner air with direct health benefits to catalyse collective action.