Global Environmental Occupational Health hub (GEO Health)
The University of Nairobi has conducted research on Ambient Exposure Measurement through its research hub; Global Environmental Occupational Health hub (GEO Health). This research focused on children’s health. The research was conducted from September 2019 to March 2022.
In a population of children from infancy to school going ages that is 0-11 years old are the most vulnerable to air population. This is because their lungs are rapidly developing at this age. Therefore, this makes them susceptible to chronic diseases as a result of the pollutant matter (PM2.5).
According to research conducted, urban areas are known to be the hotspots for pollutants due to the increase in pollution sources for instance, heavy traffic, industrial emissions and burning.
Hence, it was important for research to be done to study the lung function of children in various sub-counties; to find out if their lung functions have been compromised in one way or another throughout their childhood.
Baba Dogo, Embakasi, Heshima Road, James Gichuru, Karen C, Moi Avenue Primary, Nairobi Primary, Riruta Satellite and St Bakhita Primary agreed to take part in the study through giving a population of a total of 934 students.
The results found from the sample population was used hand in hand with data from different health facilities. They include: Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Hospital, Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital, Matter Misericordiae Hospital, Mbagathi Hospital and Metropolitan Hospital.
According to the data collected, the frequencies of morbidity and mortality of lung disease in Nairobi was 93.88% and 5% respectively for children below 15 years. When it comes to the frequencies that involve heart diseases; morbidity was at 12.73% while mortality was at 36% for children under 15 years.
1.6% of the children that succumb to heart related disease are female while 1.93% are male under the age of fifteen.
These numbers show that the rate at which these children develop lung disease is at an alarmingly high rate and die due to heart complications. Therefore the concentration of the pollutant matter is increasing over the years which translates to air pollution.
A stakeholder engagement workshop was conducted to share the results of this study. They were challenged on what aspects of the workshop they were going to employ in their day to day lives. Most of them said they would be ambassadors of clean environment now that they are aware on the need to advocate for air quality and policy mainstreaming as well as air pollution prevention.
