Adverse Health Consequences of Poor Air Quality in Nepal: a wake-up call

Authors: Nabin Pathak, Shreya Dhungana, Prashant Bidari, Sunil Shrestha, Meghnath Dhimal Abstract: Literature shows that poor air quality index (AQI) is associated with several adverse health impacts, such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes mellitus, tuberculosis, cancer, pneumonia, cataracts, heart diseases and mental health disorders. Nepal, one of the lower middle-income countries, has become vulnerable to adverse health impacts due to poor AQI over time. The capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu, is frequently placed under one of the most polluted city by IQAir. As such, this statement marks a caution for policy makers and public to be aware of the future effects of prolonged exposure to air pollution and highlights its causative factors. To solve this burgeoning issue because of the significant rise in urbanization and population growth, mitigation strategies such as creating awareness, reducing veichular emission, reducing forest fires, creating and identifying vulnerability maps risk zones for forest fires, switching to electronic vehicles and personal intervention such as staying indoors and reducing physical outdoor activity, wearing face masks must be focused and given priority. Although our study is limited in its methodology and findings, it helps establish a policy base to underscore a need for longitudinal cohort studies to generate further evidence pertaining to air quality levels and health impacts in the Nepalese population.