Suganthi Jaganathan researches air pollution in India. Among other findings, she has shown that poor air quality caused 16.6 million deaths in India over a ten-year period.
Text: Annika Lund, first published in Medicinsk Vetenskap nr 2 2025
What reactions have your findings sparked in India?
"We have been invited to meetings with officials, both from concerned government authorities and the Ministry of Health. The officials have shown interest and asked us to explain how our studies were conducted and how to interpret the results. But when ministers are questioned about air pollution in Parliament, they respond that air quality is nothing to worry about and that no deaths can be linked to it. No one follows up with further questions. The media have reported on our findings, but without much debate or discussion. There is no public opinion on the matter. When the issue does comes up, the poor air is blamed on farmers practicing slash-and-burn agriculture."
What is it like living in Delhi?
"I have lived here for ten years, and the air pollution is both visible and tangible. I feel a marked difference compared to southern India, where I was born and have family. In Delhi, it is often hard to breathe, and I frequently wake up coughing at night. It helps to keep doors and windows shut, but it gets hot if you do not have air conditioning. It is very dusty everywhere, so even if you wipe surfaces daily, there is always a visible layer of dust on everything the home. In winter, the pollution mixes with fog, and you can only see a few metres ahead. Yet people continue going to work and living as usual - they even keep driving, even if they drive very slowly."
How do you feel about this?
"I am strongly motivated to continue researching and producing more evidence that air pollution in India is extremely harmful to human health. In the long run, I want to move away from Delhi.
Suganthi Jaganathan defended her doctoral thesis in May 2025 at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet. Title: Applying novel methods to study long-term exposure to air pollution and temperature and annual mortality in India.
