By Janet Ogundepo
To curb Nigeria’s high pneumonia deaths, especially among children and the elderly, pulmonologists say air pollution and malnutrition must be checked.
Pulmonologists are doctors who focus on the diseases and conditions that affect the respiratory system.
The experts, in separate interviews with Reportr Door Healthwise, explained that pneumonia is an infectious disease that can be caused by bacteria, fungi, or viruses, and affects the air sac in the lungs.
They added that environmental factors, including indoor air pollution from unclean cooking sources, second-hand smoking, and overcrowding, further increased the risk of pneumonia in people of all ages.
The physicians noted that pneumonia was particularly common among neonates, children, and the elderly, due to their undeveloped and waning immunity.
Nigeria ranked 18th out of 133 most polluted countries in the world. An air quality monitoring company, IQAir, stated that Nigeria was 7.4 times the World Health Organisation’s annual air quality guideline value.
In its 2022 ranking, it further listed Abuja as the most polluted city and Osogbo, Osun State as the cleanest state.
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, pneumonia is the second killer disease among children and a major cause of death in elderly Nigeria. It further added that Nigeria contributed the highest to global pneumonia deaths in children.
A pulmonologist and respiratory health specialist at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Professor Olayemi Awopeju, said that a polluted environment increased the incidence of pneumonia.
“Air pollution makes it difficult for the body to fight and overcome the microorganism causing pneumonia. If the air pollution is not there, the body may be able to mount enough response to fight the microorganism so that pneumonia would not occur.
“So the environmental factors, among which is the air pollution, makes pneumonia more likely up to two times,” the don said.
The respiratory specialist further advised the use of good and fitting masks when in polluted areas to reduce the quantity of inhaled pollutants.
She also added that malnourished individuals had a higher rate of coming down with pneumonia.
Awopeju said, “The prevalent socio-economic factor further compounds the problem of malnutrition, especially children who may not be adequately breastfed.
“There are a lot of IDPS in the country and all this would lead to people not taking adequate nutrition. All these factors reduce the immunity of the people and make the body unable to fight the infection.
“Nigeria is one of the most polluted countries in the world and we are not doing many things to achieve a green production incentive.
“Nigeria has only met one of the nine targets, which includes providing clean fuel, reducing vehicle emissions, reducing the amount of sulfur in diesel, reducing solid waste burning, and providing incentives for people to have clean fuel and sustainable agricultural practices.
“These air pollutants which we call particulate matter, nitrous oxide, sulfur oxide, come from the burning of solid fuel and kerosene, what we call biomass, wood, animal dung, and bushes at the back of their houses. This increases the amount of pollutants in the atmosphere which would result in some climate change, aside from several health effects like lung cancer and stroke.”
The don also stated the health system in the country due to the lack of oxygen, and urgent care, further contributed to the risk of dying from pneumonia.
She urged parents to ensure their children received vaccination against pneumonia to further prevent deaths.
To reduce the burden of the disease, Awopeju said, “The amount of sulfur in our diesel is still more and since we have most of our large trucks using diesel, it has to be reduced. We discourage people from burning waste.
For agricultural practices, bush burning should be stopped as it releases pollutants into the air. The government can also provide incentives for cleaner fuels and encourage good hygiene among citizens.”
On his part, a Consultant Physician/Pulmonologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Dr. Oluwafemi Ojo, stated that indoor air pollution, poor health-seeking behaviour and sanitation, substance use, and the rising burden of chronic medical conditions were the risk factors increasing the burden of pneumonia in Nigeria.
Ojo called for the use of clean cooking and energy sources to minimise indoor air pollution.
He added, “Vaccination, especially children under five years and adults with medical conditions and early presentation to a health facility whenever individuals feel unwell,” as precautions to prevent disease contraction.
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