Next pandemic could be caused by air pollution – Experts warn

Clean air and environmental experts from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and various global institutions have issued a stark warning that the next pandemic could stem from air pollution if governments and authorities fail to implement stringent measures.

Professionals highlight that 90 percent of the air in Ghana and West Africa is polluted, raising serious concerns about the health implications for communities in the region.

At the West African School on Air Quality and Pollution Prevention held at KNUST, Desmond Appiah, Country Lead for Clean Air Fund, expressed his frustration that political parties in Ghana do not include comprehensive strategies to combat air pollution in their manifestos. He urged for a critical review of these documents to address this pressing issue.

“We have gone through the manifestos of all the major parties in Ghana since 1992. Nobody has talked about air pollution before.

“We want to see advocates for solutions, not advocates for talking but for solutions, that when we have scientists do the research and it comes in, we should be able to profess it so that everybody knows that there are solutions. We want to be able to be sure that five years from now, the dead toll from air pollution will be coming down.”