Dr Sulemara Watara-Abubakari of Kintampo Health Research Centre, Ghana, on Wednesday said that air pollution was the second leading cause of death worldwide after high blood pressure.
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Watara-Abubakari made the disclosure at the Clean-Air Forum Lagos 2024.
The event had the theme: “Advancing Collaborations and Multi-regional Partnerships for Clean Air Actions in African Cities”.
It was aimed to arouse public consciousness on the importance of air quality and the negative impacts of air pollution.
The forum was organised by the University of Lagos in collaboration with the Makerere University, Uganda, and AirQo. It was supported by Lagos State Government.
The researcher urged promotion of air quality for good health.
He said that continued compromise of air quality posed a huge threat to public health, causing increase in cases of lung cancer, stroke, cough, heart diseases, asthma and others.
He said that a positive change of attitude toward nature would reduce air pollution.
According to him, human activities daily saturate the air with particles that easily enter the body system and cause damages.
“Bio gas, bush burning, automobile fumes and a host of other air degradation leaves the ecosystem endangered with a negative bearing on everyone.
“The combating measure that can stand the test of time is to gather empirical data to enable policymakers to make better decisions,” he said.
He called for efforts to sensitise members of the public about the dangers of air pollution in order to reduce the pressure on the health sector and save lives.
