Ex-WHO Scientist Soumya Swaminathan On India's Air Pollution Crisis: 'It Is A National Problem'

On this India Today Special Report, Chairperson of the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation and former WHO Chief Scientist, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, discusses why air pollution is a national public health crisis in India. She explains its severe impact on children's health and cognitive development, the shared responsibility across government sectors for taking action, and the urgent need for a collective mindset shift to address this 'invisible' killer. Dr. Swaminathan states, 'Well, don't address air pollution, we're going to have an unhealthy population and we're going to lose that demographic dividend'. The discussion covers the failure of individual protective measures and calls for large-scale, coordinated implementation of existing policies, similar to successful national missions, to clean India's air.