At a time when many
countries especially the highly industrialized ones have become unusually
conscious about the environment we live in, those in our part of the world are
less concerned.
The World Health
Organisation (WHO) has urged Ghana to be mindful of its declining Air Quality (AQ)
level – a call borne out of a consistent observation about the subject over a
considerable period. This calls for immediate intervention by both policymakers
and the people.
The launch of a Health and
Pollution Action Plan for the country is auspicious and calls for the support
of all to register maximum dividends.
The AQ level and others
pertaining to the environment might sound academic and abstract and therefore
not attracting the desired support to make it work. Many of our compatriots
still bask in the ignorance that they are shielded from the effects of poor AQ;
they cannot be convinced about negative effects about poor AQ and so would
inhale overnight the dangerous fumes of mosquito repellents.
The comeuppance for not
doing anything now about our relationship with the environment – the poor AQ
level being one – can be dire.
Let us take some interest
in what obtains in countries which did not act to reverse their declining AQ
level until their recklessness exacted the deadly toll they are battling with
today.
The world’s most populous
cities are sometimes enveloped in unwholesome smog, a reality which has
informed residents masking their noses to maintain their health. The effect of a declining air quality level on
the respiratory system is not a thing to ignore.
Although we are far from
being enveloped by smog, the experts say our AQ level is poor and needs
reversing.
Fossil fuel – wood burning
to produce charcoal and other human activities – will be part of our country in
a long time to come. We can though minimize some of these activities as in the
case of charcoal production by replacing same with the use of Liquefied
Petroleum Gas (LPG).
Whereas those responsible
for ensuring air quality are snoring on their assignments, persons responsible
for air pollution do not even know the effect of their unhealthy action.
The journey to improve our
AQ level must start now from our schools, lorry stations and even houses
through a well planned awareness and education programme.
At a time when we have not
started a concerted effort to stem plastic pollution, we would be in serious
trouble if we are saddled with an added challenge of declining AQ in the
country.
Managing respiratory
related diseases occasioned by the invasion of pollutants of our urban settings
is not an easy task – the cost involved enormous.
It is exciting to learn
about a roadmap being unfolded towards managing of our AQ level whose reading
as of 2016 exceeded the WHO acceptable standard eight fold.
The recent engagement on
AQ in Accra needs more amplification given the rather high deaths resulting
from poor AQ levels. It has been detected that the inhalation of poor quality
air is responsible for some of these deaths, with the figure of 2012 standing
at 28,000.
It was instructive to
learn that even mosquito repelling coils when mismanaged can lead to the
pollution of the air we inhale.
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