By Dominic Hlordzi and William Owusu- Boateng
The Minister of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr. Kwaku Afriyie says rapid urbanization, emissions from industrial and human activities could lead to severe air pollution related diseases in urban areas.
He said the development calls for an Air Pollution Health Impact Assessment to address the specific needs of emerging urban centers.
Dr. Afriyie stated this in a message read by Executive Director of the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA Dr. Henry Kokofu at the virtual celebration of the 2021 International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies in Accra.
Announcing a plethora of projects being pursued under his leadership, Dr. Afriyie said his Ministry, through the EPA with support from the World Bank is implementing the Pollution Management and Environmental Health Programme to collect real time regulatory data for health impact assessment and decision making.
Deputy Executive Director in charge of Technical Services at EPA, Ebenezer Appah-Sampong said globally, the burden of diseases associated with air pollution including cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, upper and lower respiratory tract infections account for 7 million deaths annually, which is a major concern to the international community.
He said EPA is on the move to set up air quality networks across major cities to monitor the air quality situation, and disclose the outcome to the public.
The International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies was instituted by the UN Environment to raise awareness and rally global support to address the causes of air pollution and related health threats.
The Day aims to prioritize the need for healthy air for the well-being of everyone, while keeping conversations broad enough to encompass other critical issues such as climate change, human and planetary health for sustainable development.
The theme for the 2021 celebration is “healthy air, healthy planet”.
