The Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Anupriya Patel stated in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha session held on 13 March that the central and state governments are taking strict measure to tackle the increase in respiratory diseases.

The minister of Health and Family Welfare at a Rajya Sabha session on 13 March, noted that over the last three years, there has been an alarming increase in respiratory ailments and not all of them can be attributed to the increase in air pollution. The total number of Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) cases increased to 4.03 crore people in 2016 from 3.48 crore people in 2015.

The government has taken strict measures to cut down on air pollution including tightening of vehicular norms, promotion of cleaner technologies, and strengthening the network of air quality monitoring stations. Additionally, as part of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, districts and states have increased manpower and are conducting training of Rapid Response Team (RRT) members for carrying out outbreak investigations. The states are also strengthening laboratories to enable early detection of epidemics such as acute respiratory infections.

Under the Reproductive and Child Health Programme, prevention and treatment of acute respiratory infection including pneumonia is also being addressed on priority basis. Lastly, the minister mentioned that for prevention and control of Tuberculosis, Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme (RNTCP) is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM).