When the air is poison, everything else feels like commentary.

I landed in Delhi an hour ago. The AQI is 405. You can tell.

5 years ago, the AQI in Berkeley went above 200 because of a wildfire. They cancelled classes for two days. Friends from Delhi joked that 200 is a good day back home.

Last time I was in Delhi was also in November, in 2022. I had just hiked the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal, where I drank in clean mountain air for a month. Two days in Delhi and I felt physically sick - literally.

I’m in Delhi now for FICCI Heal, where leading government officials and industry stalwarts will talk about their future vision of Indian healthcare. I’ll be presenting Dognosis at the startup conclave and talking about the early clinical validation of our breath-based pan-cancer screening test - BreathEasy.

Breathe easy. The irony would be worth a chuckle if it wasn’t so cruel. The Lancet estimated air pollution causes ~30% of all lung cancer deaths - as well as a significant number of cancers in children. This is likely a massive underestimate for Delhi, and other Indian cities, as the models are based on data in the West with lower AQI thresholds.

When the air is poison, everything else feels like commentary. Just like this.