Establishing a Hub for Environmental and Occupational Health Research and Capacity Building in India

摘要

In the last 25 years, India has experienced rapid economic growth, industrialization and urbanization, which has resulted in high levels of air pollution exposure across major urban centres. The World Health Organization's list of cities with the highest levels of ambient air pollution regularly features over a dozen Indian cities in its top 30, and the Global Burden of Disease estimates rank air pollution exposure among the most important risk factors contributing to poor health outcomes in Indians. Till date, however, much of the research on ambient air pollution and health outcomes, specifically on NCDs has been carried out developed countries, failing to capture the complex environments in which Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs) function with their multitude of sources, and manifold higher exposure levels. To address this, the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, Public Health Foundation of India, and the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health established a GEOHealth Hub to examine the links between ambient air pollution and cardiometabolic diseases and risk factors. The hub builds on the work of the CARRS cohort, functional since 2010, by carrying out retrospective associations to build the evidence base for AP & CVD risk factors and outcomes in LMICs. Simultaneously, to build the necessary capacity to carry out the proposed research aims of the hub, and to build a cadre of trained environmental health researchers and policymakers, the Hub is also carrying out a series of short, medium and long-term capacity building initiatives ranging from in-person intensive week-long training programs to Master's level training at HSPH. Till date, over 225 individuals have been trained across 50 institutions in India and neighboring countries. With strong linkages to the Indian health system and the engagement of multiple local partners, the Hub aims to characterize a key environmental threat affecting Indians, and drive policy to address this threat.