The air we breathe is killing us!

The air we breathe is killing us! This is true all over the world, exclaimed Prof. Nicholas Oguge.

Prof. Oguge was speaking during a stakeholder engagement workshop at the UoN on Thursday, February 24, 2022 during the release of the ‘Air Pollution in the City of Nairobi: Bridging evidence with Policy’.

The Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEO) UoN team found that on the spirometry test carried out on the school-aged children between the ages of 0-11 years. 90% of the participants had normal chests, with only 10% having abnormal chests. Female were slightly more than the Male accounting for 54.8 % while the male constituted 45.2% among the 10 % of the children with abnormal chests. A total of 1000 children were involved in this research.

The University of Nairobi is part of a consortium known as Global Environmental and Occupational Health (GEO Health) Hub for Research and Training in Eastern Africa.

GEO-Health EA is one of the seven hubs funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), of the USA, around the world.

UoN is working in partnership with Addis Ababa University, Makerere University, University of Rwanda, Columbia University, University of Southern California, and Colorado School of Public Health in this venture.

GEO Health UoN team together with the Kenya Air Quality Network(KAQN) released the results on the running research on time-series study of the ambient air quality and associated respiratory outcome among lower primary school-going children in the eight planning zones of the City of Nairobi (Dagoretti, Embakasi, Kamukunji, Kasarani, Langata, Makadara, Starehe, and Westlands).The cause-specific hospitalization and mortality in six hospitals, and household surveys among children tested for spirometry. The equipment and training at the GEOHealth hub, UoN, has also helped offer an opportunity for collaboration and capacity building to other entities. Ten Nephelometers erected in these primary schools were used to collect the data.

While delivering the keynote speech, the Director General, NEMA Mr. Mamo B.Mamo speaking on behalf of the PS, Ministry of Environment announced that there is very little research on air pollution in Kenya. Most environmental research has been on soil and water but rarely on air pollutants. He urged more stakeholders to join in the call against air pollutants, “Let us be ambassadors for our environment because this is our life and our future.”

The NEMA DG, emphasized the importance of having an air quality monitoring system in every major city. ‘‘Very little research has been done on the quality of air and its pollutants. I am glad that Geohealth and KAQN have partnered towards this.’

Prof Margaret Hutchinson, Associate Vice-chancellor, Research, Innovation and Enterprise, who represented the UoN VC Prof Kiama, highlighted the importance of clean air to our health. She also expressed her delight at the role the data collected will play in assisting policymakers in developing better policies that will improve Kenyans' health.

The following were some of the key findings that emerged clearly after the 27-month research: Pollutant levels were found to be intermittently higher than the World Health Organization's recommended standards daily. Pollution levels fell during the partial closure in March and May 2020 but surged to pre-lockdown levels during the first week of June. The study also found that pollution levels varied by region and that there was a strong link between pollution levels and human activities that could be controlled, such as traffic and garbage burning.

The research team led by Prof. Oguge made several key recommendations which included the development of strategies to enhance traffic flow in the city, improvement of solid waste collection and disposal. Incentivize reduction in the use of private cars, encouraging firms to invest in green technologies more. The need to have non-motorized mobility types throughout the city was also cited as a way to reduce the daily pollutant levels.

Other government and non – governmental entities who had representatives in the workshop included. The Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Health, Ministry of transport, Kenya Urban Roads Authority, The County Government of Nairobi and all the primary schools and hospitals where the research was conducted were also equally represented.