Hyderabad: Data on COPD cases in women shows that it is growing three times faster than in men.
In India, data collected by government hospitals showed that 5.54 million rural women were at risk of COPD compared to 1.97 million urban women. In many cases it was found that incense sticks and mosquito coils contributed to COPD in urban women.
In poorly ventilated and small rooms, even six hours of exposure to mosquito coils at night is equivalent to smoking 50 cigarettes.
Similarly biomass fuel used for cooking and heating purposes in poorly ventilated kitchens increases the particulate matter in the room which is extremely harmful.
The disability adjusted life years due to Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is as high as 33.6 per cent and it is found that 25.8 per cent of these cases are due to household air pollution.
