Accra, Ghana//-Ghana lost $2.5 billion of its gross domestic product (GDP) to air pollution in the year 2017, a recent World Bank Ghana Country Environmental Analysis has estimated.
This represented roughly 4.2% of the country’s GDP. While 100% of Ghana’s population is exposed to air pollution levels exceeding WHO’s guidelines.
Also in Ghana, air pollution is responsible for 8% of total mortality with approximately 16,000 Ghanaians dying prematurely each year, according to the analysis.
More than half of these deaths are in the cities with nearly as many occurring in rural areas. The financial costs of treatment of air pollution-related disease are also high.
Globally, 7 million people die annually from exposure to poor air. Over 91% of the world population live in areas where air pollution exceeds national and WHO guidelines.
Speaking at the opening of the Bank’s dissemination workshop on Pollution Management and Environmental Health (PMEH) Program in Accra, the World Bank Ghana Country Director, Frank Pierre Laporte, said air pollution is Ghana’s number one environmental risk to public health and its sixth-ranked overall risk for death.
“Air pollution is deadly”. He added that it is causing or contributing to heart attacks, strokes, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases.
Slow actions
Mr Laporte however observed: “Yet actions to reduce air pollution has been slow”.
Lack of general awareness
In spite of these frightening statistics, he lamented that there is lack of general awareness and media reporting on air quality in the country.
As he put it: “Resolving the challenge of air pollution and moving society towards improved environmental quality efforts cannot rest only with “experts” but will require the support and active participation of an informed public.
Thus, the media, civil society and youth groups should become an indispensable partner. This can be done through their various roles of increasing awareness on the problems, challenges and opportunities towards a sustainable environment and management”.
Pay attention to air pollution issues
For a healthy Ghana, discussions and actions on air pollution issues should begin to gain prominence in the media and in public discourse, Mr Laporte told the participants who were made of civil society organizations and media practitioners.
The role of the media and civil society in helping build an environmentally friendly society is important. It entails practically assisting in solving local problems by providing the public and decision makers with information for informed participation in decision-making.
The media serves as an important channel to reach and engage decision-makers, opinion leaders and citizens.
By providing accurate, high-quality environmental reporting and engaging the public in a policy dialogue, civil society and independent media can also help citizens protect their environmental interests. They can also ensure widespread dissemination of environmental information for corrective actions.
Accurately measuring air quality
Accurately measuring air quality is key to effective responses. However, there is a severe dearth of reliable ground-level air quality measurements, Mr Laporte said.
In this regard, the World Bank’s Pollution Management and Environmental Health Pilot Project has been implemented in partnership with the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The collaboration according to him has helped Ghana to address ambient air-pollution and supported the development of a full-scale Air Quality Management Plan for the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area.
Recommendations
To achieve dramatic and systemic change, the World Bank recommended the need to: engage stakeholders to improve understanding of the effects and impacts of air pollution and the change in behavior required.
Mr Laporte and his team of experts at the Bank called for the reinforcement environmental standards, policies and laws that prevent emissions of air pollutants are needed more than ever.
They also called for the promotion of alternatives to open burning of municipal waste and enforce the Air Quality Standards in the country.
The Bank further suggested the promotion of economic opportunities that address household air pollution such as cleaner cooking, and provision of sustainable levels of funding to support an air quality management system including the need to build capacity to deliver on air quality management planning goals.
Establish regional collaboration on fuel/efficiency standards and environmentally targeted import duties, they added.
Mr Laporte assured that Ghana could continue to count on the support of the World Bank. “We stand ready to work with your team for the successful conclusion of this important project to improve the air quality planning capacity and action.
We need healthier air for a healthier Ghana. Together we can act for #HealthyAirHealthyGhana. Tackling air pollution represents an obvious component of the World Bank’s mission to eradicate poverty and promoting shared prosperity”.
Congratulations
The Deputy CEO of EPA, Ebenezer Sarpong used the occasion to congratulate the World Bank and all other partners for their support and marvelous work being done in the country.
Air pollution knows no boundary and travels from the source of generation to afar, hence the cause of the pollution and the recipient is equally at risk.
The workshop was also used further highlight the key outputs and achievements of the project including the development of Household Air Pollution (HAP) guidelines and HAP exposure test methods in the country.
African Eye Report
