Air Pollution and Health

One of the main outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) was the agreement by Member States to launch a process to develop a set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goal 3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages” aims at securing a healthy life for all. Measures to achieve this goal involves substantially reducing the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water, and soil pollution and contamination. This paper discusses the health impacts arising from ambient and household air pollution globally and at the national level (India) and recommends policy measures to reduce the health impact from air pollution in the national context.