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The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence
THE PERMIAN HEALTH CLEAN AIR INITIATIVE
The Challenge
Air pollution is an important but under recognized cause of disease and death in The Gambia. It is responsible for about 7 million premature deaths globally. According to the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), air pollution was the second highest risk factor driving most death and disability in The Gambia in 2019. Air pollution is a leading global cause of death, claiming an estimated 7 million lives annually. It is classified as one of the "big five" risk factors for Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), alongside tobacco use, physical inactivity, harmful alcohol consumption, and unhealthy diets. A recent report by the Gambian Ministry of Health indicated that NCDs such as hypertension, diabetes, ischemic heart disease, and cancer are responsible for up to one third of premature deaths in The Gambia, affecting around 90% of the population.
Despite the importance of air pollution as a known risk factor for poor health, The Gambia faces a significant challenge as it lacks the necessary resources and infrastructure to measure air quality and pollution levels accurately. This limitation hampers Gambia's ability to effectively address the issue and take appropriate actions to mitigate the harmful effects of air pollution. Without reliable data on pollution levels, it is difficult to implement targeted interventions and policies that would safeguard the population's well-being and reduce the health risks associated with poor air quality.
In 2023, The Gambia was ranked 24th globally, and 8th in Africa in terms of measured air pollutant particulate matter (PM 2.5) concentration, with a reading of 28.5µg/m3 that is five times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended target of 5µg/m3, highlighting the serious air pollution problem in the country.
Air quality standards are an important component of national risk management and environmental policies. Currently, there are no published national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), policies, or legislation, and The Gambia does not have a public Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Network (AAQMN) capable of measuring air quality.
A local solution
Dr. Sunkaru Touray, an American Board-Certified Gambian Pulmonologist and Co-founder of Permian Health Lung Institute, initiated the Clean Air Initiative after observing a high prevalence of chronic respiratory diseases in non-smoking Gambians. Recognizing the lack of publicly available air quality information in the country, he spearheaded the Clean Air Initiative to address this critical issue through the deployment of a network of air quality sensors. Since its launch at the inaugural Air Quality Conference in 2023, the Clean Air Initiative has partnered with the National Environment Agency and the Ministry of Health to successfully increase awareness and accessibility to air quality data in The Gambia with nationwide air sensor coverage, through the installation of sensors in all 7 administrative regions in the country.