THE PERMIAN HEALTH CLEAN AIR INITIATIVE
Why We Started
Dr. Sunkaru Touray, a board-certified pulmonologist and co-founder of Permian Health Lung Institute (PHLI), launched the Clean Air Initiative after observing a high prevalence of chronic respiratory disease among non-smoking Gambians. At the time, there was no publicly available air quality information anywhere in the country. No one could answer a basic question: what are Gambians breathing?
The Clean Air Initiative was created to answer that question, and to put the answer in the hands of the public, clinicians, and policymakers.
A National Partnership
Since its launch at the inaugural Air Quality Conference in 2023, the Clean Air Initiative has grown into a working partnership between Permian Health Lung Institute and the National Environment Agency (NEA), with support from the Ministry of Health. Together, PHLI and the NEA have built out The Gambia's first national ambient air quality monitoring network.
The network now includes more than 28 monitoring points covering all 7 administrative regions of the country. It combines two complementary technologies:
Low-cost sensors deployed nationwide provide continuous, real-time PM2.5 measurements, making it possible to track air quality across urban and rural communities alike.
A reference-grade monitor, a Beta Attenuation Monitor (BAM 1022) located at the NEA headquarters in Kanifingi, is the only regulatory-grade air quality instrument in the country. PHLI donated the monitor to the NEA and continues to maintain it. It anchors the network by providing gold-standard measurements against which the low-cost sensors are calibrated and validated.
This hybrid model, pairing an affordable distributed sensor fleet with a reference-grade anchor station, is what makes credible, nationwide air quality data possible in a resource-limited setting.
What the Data Shows
The data has already reshaped the national conversation. Monitoring across the network indicates a national mean PM2.5 concentration of approximately 71 µg/m³, many times above the World Health Organization's recommended guideline. These findings, alongside occupational exposure studies and national household survey results, were compiled into a ministerial brief prepared for the NEA and the Minister of Environment, with PHLI as a key institutional contributor.
In recognition of this work, The Gambia's air quality efforts received an Air Quality Milestone Award from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
From Data to Policy
Measurement was never the end goal. The Clean Air Initiative exists to drive action, and The Gambia is now in a pivotal legislative window. Three bills currently under consideration, the Waste Bill 2025, the Road Traffic Bill 2025, and the National Environment Management Bill 2025, together represent the most significant opportunity in a generation to embed air quality protections into Gambian law.
The Clean Air Initiative is actively supporting this process by ensuring that lawmakers and regulators have access to credible, locally generated evidence on air pollution and its health consequences. Data from the national network gives these legislative efforts something they have never had before: a factual baseline measured on Gambian soil.
What Comes Next
The work is far from finished. Priorities for the next phase include:
Expanding reference-grade coverage. The country's only reference-grade monitor currently serves the Greater Banjul Area. We are advocating for government investment in additional reference-grade monitors for the interior regions, so that every part of the country benefits from regulatory-quality measurement.
Sustaining and growing the sensor network. Continued maintenance, calibration, and expansion of the low-cost sensor fleet will keep public data flowing and improve its accuracy over time.
Turning evidence into protection. We will continue working alongside the NEA, the Ministry of Health, and lawmakers to translate air quality data into policies that protect the lungs of every Gambian. Clean air is a right, not a privilege. The Clean Air Initiative is working to make it a reality in The Gambia.