By Samwel Doe Ouma (@samweldoe) & Mike Mwaniki
A new study by World Health Organization (WHO) examining levels of both outdoor and household air pollution reveals that many people are breathing polluted air that can cause diseases like stroke, heart diseases, lung cancer and respiratory infections such as pneumonia.
The report further reveals that nine out of 10 people around the world are breathing air containing high levels of pollutants, with SubSaharan Africa among those failing to meet recommended WHO air quality levels. According to the latest data from WHO, around 7 million people die every year from exposure to fine particles in polluted air that penetrate deep into the lungs and cardiovascular system.
“Ambient air pollution alone caused some 4.2 million deaths in 2016, while household air pollution from cooking with polluting fuels and technologies caused an estimated 3.8 million deaths in the same period,” the report says in part.
The report further reveals that more than 90 per cent of air pollutionrelated deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries, mainly in Asia and Africa, followed by low- and middle-income countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region, Europe and the Americas. It further says that around 3 billion people – more than 40 per cent of the world’s population- do not have access to clean cooking fuels and technologies in their homes, the main source of household air pollution.
The report comes out amid concerns of increased number of deaths in Kenya caused by respiratory diseases. Latest data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) –Economic Survey 2018- reveals that pneumonia, leading cause of deaths in Kenya claimed 21,584 lives, cancer caused 16,953 deaths, Tuberculosis 9, 081, heart diseases 4,786 in 2017, while a whooping 14,482,269 people sought treatment for respiratory diseases.
In the backdrop of the staggering statistics, Kenya’s Ministry of Energy has rolled out subsidized six kilogram cooking gas cylinders and its accessories at a discounted price of Sh2,000 down from Sh5, 000 to cut reliance of charcoal and kerosene. The plan has been piloted in Machakos and Kajiado counties. The WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said air pollution threatens all, but the poorest and most marginalized people bear the brunt of the burden.
“It is unacceptable that over three billion people – most of them women and children – are still breathing deadly smoke every day from using polluting stoves and fuels in their homes. If we don’t take urgent action on air pollution, we will never come close to achieving sustainable development,” he said.
In Kenya, for example, the Health Ministry’s Deputy Director for Public Health, Dr James Mwitari says household air pollution and solid fuel use killed 21,700 people in the country in 2012. Dr. Mwitari warned that the number of people who die from household air pollution in Kenya is expected to rise unless the country adopts clean fuel for cooking. Speaking to Health Business Magazine in his office in Nairobi Dr. Mwitari said Kenya lagged behind several African countries such as Congo with a clean fuel reliance of (18 per cent); Djibouti (10 per cent); Eritrea (14 per cent); South Africa (82 per cent); Zimbabwe (62 per cent) and Zambia (16 per cent).
Dr. Mwitari added: “Apart from the deaths—the polluting and energyinefficient systems such as biomass (firewood, charcoal, cow dung, and vegetation and maize cobs)—coal and kerosene, results in several other health hazards.” The WHO Director General, who visited Kenya in January 2018 and met President Uhuru Kenyatta to discuss how to implement Universal Health Care, which is one of the Head of State’s “Big Four Agenda”, has already seconded a WHO technical expert on air pollution.
The WHO expert has been seconded to the Health Ministry from the WHO Regional Office in Brazzavile, Congo for the next six months. He has been tasked to actualise the household air pollution case investment model for Kenya. The outcome of the investment model, Dr. Mwitari noted, will be supported jointly by the Government and WHO through the ambient air pollution support.
Dr. Mwitari observed: “By 2030— we would like the country’s 95 per cent of our population to adopt clean fuel in their cooking at the household level.” T h e D e p u t y Director attributes the use of the harmful biomass to the high cost of gas and electricity as well as lack of awareness among a majority of the populace on the dangers posed by air pollution at the household level.
“We need a multi-faceted approach in changing our behaviour as the Government cannot accomplish this alone,” he said. During the WHO DG’s recent visit to Kenya, the official also signed an agreement between WHO and UN Environment aimed at initiating a significant formal step for collaborative action between the two agencies to address air pollution and climate change.
This year, WHO will convene the first Global Conference on Air Pollution and Health (from October 30 to 1 November 1 2018) to bring governments and partners together in a global effort to improve air quality and combat climate change. In March 2018, leaders from 42 Countries in the sub-Saharan Africa endorsed a communiqué at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi to promote cleaner mobility in Cities.
The conference, dubbed ‘Africa Clean Mobility Week,’ discussed ways of improving efficiency and reducing green gas emissions through leveraging on technological advancements. Africa is undergoing unprecedented motorisation rate spurred by high rates of urbanisation and economic growth.
Latest data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows that the total number of newly registered motor vehicles increased by 895 units from 90,176 in 2016 to 91,071 in 2017. KNBS data also says that newly registered motor cycles went up by 55.1 per cent from 123,539 units in 2016 to 191,601 units in 2017” occasioned by a “55.7 per cent rise in the number of registered motor and auto cycles.” WHO has been monitoring household air pollution for more than a decade and, while the rate of access to clean fuels and technologies is increasing everywhere; improvements are not even keeping pace with population growth in many parts of the world, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
