By Abigail Yeboah
Breathing in good quality air daily is important for healthy living, according to Experts. As a result, exposure to polluted air is a vital risk factor for non-communicable diseases such as lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, acute lower respiratory infection and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016 reported that 7 million people died globally that year because of household and ambient air pollution, with 90% of such deaths in middle- to low-income countries in Asia and Africa. With a rapid economic expansion and population growth and a high rate of urbanization, air pollution has become a serious challenge in Ghana.
Almost all Ghanaians are exposed to air pollution that exceeds the levels set in the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) guidelines for clean air. Currently air quality conditions present an unacceptable health burden for the population of Accra.
It is estimated that about 16,000 Ghanaians die prematurely each year because of air pollution. This number, according to Experts is projected to increase to approximately 46,000 by 2030, if no action is taken to control the levels of air pollution.
In the Greater Accra Region, air pollution is caused by sources including industries, vehicle emissions, and Harmattan wind-blown dusts and sea salt, sooth from cook stoves and open burning of wastes.
A recent World Bank Ghana Country Environmental Analysis estimates that the economic cost of air pollution is at US$2.5 billion or roughly 4.2% of the country’s 2017 GDP. Financial costs of treatment of air pollution-related diseases are also high.
In view of this, the Environmental Health and Pollution Management Programme in collaboration with the Ghana Agricultural Rural Development Journalists has held a meeting on how to strengthen air quality management in Accra.
The Director for Environmental Pollution Agency (EPA), Emmanuel Appoh, said they have regulatory grade monitors in various areas in Accra including industrial, residential and commercial areas and other sources which come from unpaid rolls.
“The World Bank’s Pollution Management and Environmental Health Program, which is funded by the governments of Norway, Germany, and the United Kingdom; has strengthened the institutional capacity of the EPA to address existing monitoring and planning gaps for air quality management”
“The program will enhance the understanding of key sources of air pollution that support agencies to establish a cloud-based data management system to upload, store and query air quality data. This is to enable a real-time Air Quality Index for public awareness”, he added.
Mr. Appoh, said they will be broadcasting the information on a Metrological platform which will come out as a colour coding. This will help indicate air quality index for people who are illiterate. He stated that, EPA has taken steps to set up air quality networks across major cities to monitor the air quality situation in the country and disclose its outcome to the public.
“The growing rural-urban migration and increase in population being experienced in Ghana, is likely to outpace and challenge the already inadequate infrastructure that exists to manage pollution. The cities of Accra and Tema host most of the country’s industries, some of which are aged and high emitting. The vehicle fleet of Ghana is also increasing, with the current population of registered vehicles being more than 2.1 million, according to the Driver Vehicle Licensing Authority”.
The Greater Accra Metropolitan area has the highest number of registered vehicles of about 1.2 million. These activities, including settlement issues, if not addressed holistically could pose serious risk to ambient air quality and public health in the Greater Accra Region.
