Traffic police vulnerable to lung diseases

Hyderabad has been registering a 30-35 per cent rise in pulmonary diseases every year. While asthma and sinusitis continue to be very frequent, city doctors observe that acute lung diseases like bronchitis and lung inflammation are becoming commonplace among the youth. According to doctors, the alarming jump in malignancy is attributed to the presence of carcinogenic elements such as ozone, benzene and toluene in the air. The composition of toxins in the city has undergone a fair transformation with more life-threatening toxins in the air. With this proliferation, one section of people who are hit largely is the traffic police.

These men are faced with higher occupational risk owing to their exposure to air pollution and with the ingress of carcinogenic elements have made matters shoddier. Mediciti Hospitals which organised a free lung check-up recently was a welcome step for the welfare of the traffic personnel. Traffic personnel should be constantly rotated on a periodic basis so that they do not remain exposed to pollution for long periods. Traffic booths containing ionisers at traffic intersections should be installed which would suppress the toxins in the air and provide a healthy environment for the policeman seated inside.