AIIMS Medicos take lead in Awareness on Climate Change, RDA holds march on Air pollution

New Delhi: AIIMS doctors took lead in creating awareness about the ill effects of climate change and threats that Air pollution to the health of the Indian society

Resident doctors and students of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on Friday held a march in support of the Climate Justice Movement to spread awareness about the threat posed by pollution in the country.

AIIMS Resident Doctors Association, in a statement, said, around 12.4 lakh deaths in India in 2017 is attributable to air pollution which is the leading risk factor for death.

'Beat Air Pollution' was the theme of World Environment Day 2019.

"Doctors usually have been protesting for their own rights and problems. Being healthcare professionals in Delhi, one of the most polluted cities in the world, we medicos, MBBS, MD, Msc, PhD students, research staff realise that we need to raise our voice against climate change and pollution not only for ourselves but more importantly, for the patients as well," the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) said.

An RDA member said, "Climate change and rising pollution levels will result in severe medical emergencies in a magnitude that have never been dealt with before. Its high time that people become aware of it and take steps at their own individual levels to protect the environment."

The march was taken out at 1 pm from outside the AIIMS library and ended in hostel campus without causing any inconvenience to the patients or officials, the RDA statement added.

The World Environmental Health Day is celebrated on 26 September annually, and the theme for this year was Global Food Safety and Sustainability