CONTENTS 1.INFECTIOUS DISEASES 1 Infectious diseases, which we had hoped to eradicate, are still around. New diseases are surfacing. The degraded environment has become a breeding ground for infections 2.AIR POLLUTION 73 Urban air is a cocktail of poisons. While outdoor air pollution continues to kill millions through chronic diseases, people are yet to wake up to the hazards of indoor air pollution 3.WATER POLLUTION 121 Contaminated water leads to arsenic and fluoride poisoning, and other ailments. With no reliable estimates on how much these diseases cost the country, their public health implications are enormous 4.TOXINS 145 There is an urgent need to understand the impact of ingesting small quantities of toxins like pesticides and PCBs in our bodies, and to minimise and regulate this exposure 5.LIFESTYLE DISEASES 211 We face a host of new lifestyle related diseases like cancer, diabetes, obesity, asthma and cardiovascular diseases. These are permanent and require long periods of expensive care 6.REGULATIONS 281 The challenge of good health is the challenge of good politics. There is a need to develop policies for affordable and reachable medicines Industrial disasters like Bhopal are a reminder of what can happen if we do not account for safety in modern set-ups. This also illustrates our inability to recognise and deal with such risks