An inaugural workshop to advance advocacy and participatory management of air quality was held this Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in the Cameroonian capital at the Djeuga Palace hotel. According to environmentalists, nine out of ten people breathe polluted air in many cities on the continent. The “Clean Air African Network” project sponsored by the US State Department and engineers from Makéréré University in Uganda have developed low-cost sensors to help monitor air quality in certain countries. East Africa (Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda) and West Africa (Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon).
For the Project Manager Dr Deo Okure, the objectives are clear: having the ability to build with data to know what needs to be done, capacity building of members, progressive use of results to undertake corrective actions measures and organize experience sharing in order to contribute significantly to improve air quality. This workshop saw the participation of several sectoral administrations.
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Dr Nasser Nducol, IRGM nuclear science and technology research center
« We have an environmental monitoring program which allows us on a daily basis to monitor the quality of the air that is breathed in our main cities, particularly Yaoundé and Douala. We were invited to this workshop as a participant and we left very satisfied. In terms of added value, this initiative seeks to affect the daily lives of Cameroonians in their everyday actions. We notice a lot of unconsciousness in their actions, the waste set on fire in the streets, the vehicles which emit a lot of greenhouse gases, etc. We do research which leads to laws which are not investigated. We believe that this initiative will make it possible to hit the target, which will certainly improve the air quality in our cities. In the city of Yaoundé, the data we have shows that the air quality is critical and it is important that measures are taken to improve the air quality. There are several actions that can limit pollution such as using gas instead of firewood, not burning garbage ».
Dr Assah Félix Kembe, FMBS UY I focal point Cameroon
« We have started studies to measure the level of air pollution in the city of Yaoundé. The difficulty was that atmospheric sensors are quite expensive but now that we are in a collaborative research project with the AirQo African group from Uganda, allows us to use low cost sensors that are manufactured by our partner and which we can deploy several. Air pollution is linked to lung disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and many other illnesses. Air pollution is a major factor. If nothing is done, it is economic activity which will take a cost but also the mortality rate will increase. Hence the need to improve the quality of life in our cities ».
Clément Noumsi
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