Suitable intervention strategies will enable achievement of sustainable development goals: Harsh Vardhan

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Saturday said that suitable intervention strategies would enable the achievement of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

"The emission of huge quantities of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere is the main cause of climate change. Thus, research, especially targeted at estimating the burden of pollution/climate change and consequent health effects, is essential to design and implement suitable intervention strategies that will enable the achievement of the sustainable development goals of UNDP," the minister said while inaugurating the New Green Campus of the Indian Council for Medical Research's National Institute for Research in Environment Health (NIREH) in Madhya Pradesh's Bhopal.

"It is fortunate that India is not a major contributor to environmental degradation, but at the same time, we are committed to conserve and preserve the environment. The Global Solar Alliance, Prime Minister Ujjwala Yojana to provide cleaner fuel and Swachcha Bharat Abhiyaan are evidence of our commitment.

"NIREH will play a great role in changing human behaviour through scientific communication aimed at educating and motivating the public to adopt pro-environmental behaviour," he added.

Contextualising the current COVID-19 pandemic in the underexplored relationship between environment and health, the health minister said, "Emerging evidence suggests that exposure to ambient air pollutants especially PM2.5 and NO2 contribute to the spread and virulence of SARS-CoV2 infection. Furthermore, ambient air pollution is a known risk factor for multiple adverse health outcomes including chronic cardio-respiratory morbidities and the presence of said morbidities renders the affected population more vulnerable to COVID-19."

"To worsen matters, closed indoor spaces provide ideal environments for viral transmission due to a lack of ventilation preventing the dilution of viral particles and the absence of ultraviolet rays which can potentially inactivate the virus," he added.

( With inputs from ANI )