Air pollution ‘steals’ from the pocket

Breathing in poor air from vehicular emissions, sooth from traditional stoves, and open burning of waste exerts economic burden on people's pockets, says Dr Frederic Out-Larbi, a Lecturer at the Department of Atmospheric and Climate Science at the University Energy and Natural Resource and Energy.'Payments an individual makes on health services and medications that the National Health Insurance Scheme does not cover, cost of transportation to and fro the health centre as well as loss of income while on hospitalisation due to poor air quality are huge,' he explained.Dr Out-Labi said this at the opening of a boot camp organised by the Clean Air Fund (CAF) for 17 Chief Executives and 29 Coordinating Directors from the Greater Accra at Ada.The event sought to expose city authorities to the diverse negative impacts of air pollution to public health, the economy and key infrastructure.Dr Out-Labi said the costs could be saved and many deaths linked to air pollution avoided if citizens took bold actions, in cluding not engaging in open burning of solid waste, embracing clean cooking and regularly servicing their vehicles.He said that city authorities could help the citizenry to save those monies by ensuring that air pollution laws were enacted and enforced.Dr Out-Labi said Ghana could be saving about USD 2.5million a year, by just taking concrete actions against air pollution.'…The Greater Accra region alone can save USD 200million and save many deaths linked to air pollution as well as deformities among children,' he added.Mrs Lillian Beaka, the Chief Director of Greater Accra Coordinating Council, urged city managers to improve efforts to reduce air pollution in the Region by deploying a combination of policy actions, technological innovations, and public awareness campaigns.'We must keep in mind that, as policy implementers on the ground, it is our responsibility to protect the residents who are directly affected by these emissions in our Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies,' she noted.Clean air, Mrs Beaka said, was essential for human health and the environment and that it was also crucial for respiratory health, prevention of cardiovascular diseases, and promoting overall well-being.The Chief Director said the United Nations recognised access to clean air as a fundamental human right, which could be inferred from 15 of the 17 Global Goals.'In view of this, we should commit to localising and implementing the Global Goals to promote among others, the fundamental human rights of access to clean air,' she advised.Mr Desmond Appiah, Country Lead of Clean Air Fund, said through the funding mechanisms, CAF was supporting local assemblies to review their by-laws to incorporate air pollution issues.He said CAF initially began working with 13 districts but the number had increased, drawing the attention of city managers and their technical people to air pollution, one of the leading public health issues killing people.Mr Appiah said some 15 local assemblies were being supported to develop municipality specific air quality action plans based on the Environmental Protection Agency regional level air quality management plan under the Breathe Accra Project.Source: Ghana News Agency