“Air pollution kills more people in Gambia than tobacco”

Dr Touray made the remarks yesterday (Thursday) at a half-day meet-and-greet session for the Gambia’s Air Quality ‘Clean Air Force’ volunteers at the GAMCOTRAP conference hall.

The pulmonologist also said that when someone smokes, only one person is affected, but when the air is polluted, everyone is affected, noting that “many more people in The Gambia are affected by air pollution than by smoking”.

“I found that the lung diseases women suffer from are the same as those suffered by men who smoke, and there are not many women who smoke in Gambia,” he said. “That’s why I made the connection between air pollution and smoking. We are all exposed to air pollutants, and if they are not prioritized or controlled, they will cause many diseases.”

The WHO reports that 11 out of every 100 15-year-old Gambian girls will die before the age of 50. For boys, 12 out of every 100 15-year-olds will die before the age of 50.

Dr. Touré, who is also a pulmonologist and critical care physician, said people’s poor health could be caused by harmful exposures when they were young.

Over the years, the US-based doctor has seen many patients with unexplained illnesses in Gambia, which he says got him thinking about the issue of air pollution.

In 2023, Dr. Touray’s institute launched the Clean Air Initiative, which aims to increase public awareness of the importance of air pollution as a risk factor for human health and address the country’s air pollution data gaps.

Air pollution reportedly causes about 7 million deaths worldwide each year.

The doctors called for ensuring that The Gambia has the infrastructure to continuously measure the country’s air quality and provide the information to individuals and institutions that need it.

Meanwhile, the country has gone from not having any publicly available sensors to the Permian Health Lung Institute having one sensor in every region of the country since last year, which is a huge success.

Dr. Touray said they will strive to double that number within the next year. He stressed that improving air quality requires the efforts of all stakeholders, noting that the government needs to consider legislation to reduce fossil fuel emissions because most air pollutants come from vehicle emissions, and some vehicles are not fit for the road.

He also called on people to consciously reforest as trees can protect people from dust. “People need to be more environmentally conscious and not cut down trees. Real estate companies also need to be conscious in building urban spaces in the country,” he said.

He further called for collaboration with the private sector to raise awareness of the importance of public health measures to ensure “we all lead healthier lives and develop as a nation”.