Achieving the target of reducing PM2.5 levels by 30 per cent under the National Clean Air Programme could bring down nationwide disease prevalence to 3.09 per cent from the current average of 4.87 per cent, according to a new tool launched on Tuesday. Research group Climate Trends and IIT-Delhi unveiled the Health Benefit Assessment Dashboard at a consultation workshop held here.

The dashboard, based on data from the National Family Health Survey across 641 districts, is the first of its kind to establish clear links between air pollution and public health in India.

The tool maps associations between PM2.5 pollution and diseases such as hypertension, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , anaemia and diabetes among women aged 15 to 49, and anaemia, low birth weight and respiratory infections among children under the age of five.

India launched NC in 2019 with the goal of reducing 2017 particulate pollution levels by 20-30 per cent by 2024. In 2022, the government revised the target to a 40 per cent reduction by 2026 in 131 non-attainment cities.

According to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago’s 2025 report published last month, residents of the cities covered under NC would see their life expectancy rise by two years compared to 2017 if the programme’s targets are achieved. Virinder Sharma, Technical Member, Commission for Air Quality Management in Delhi-NCR, said the health impacts of pollution remain “silent, invisible and diffuse”.