Air pollution is an important environmental risk factor with global
public health implications. Chronic respiratory diseases (CRD) are obvious
effects of air pollution and the third reason of death in developing countries.
In Africa, air pollution from road traffic is one of the main causes of poor
air quality. In this review, the authors aimed to present the state of
knowledge in Africa on the impact of external air pollution, particularly
related to traffic, on chronic respiratory diseases and to propose strategies
to fight this pollution.
In the review, the
authors set out to systematically review existing published researches on
traffic related to air pollution and CRD, particularly asthma and Chronic
Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) in Africa. And a literature search of
PubMed, Scholar and LISSA databases, published journals, reference articles,
published up to 31 December 2016, had been done by using a research strategy
procedure. Texts were reviewed for inclusion. Studies were included if they met
the following criteria: 1) the relationship between asthma or COPD with ambient
air pollution related to road traffic was studied and 2) the population
included people from Africa or lived in Africa. Articles written in English and
French were included.
The results
indicated that fifty-five articles were selected in this review, of which
twenty-seven were on air pollution and CRD in Africa. The proximity of the
residence or workplace to the traffic is associated with an increased risk of
asthma with a dose-response relationship. The estimated prevalence of COPD
varies between 2.7% and 38.5%.
In conclusion, little
research has been done on the effects of air pollution from cars on respiratory
health in contrast to indoor air pollution, in particular that related to the
combustion of biomass. Strategies to reduce traffic related to air pollution in African
cities have been proposed in order to have a healthier ambient air.
Article by Fatou
K. Sylla, et al, from Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD), Dakar, Senegal.
Full access: http://mrw.so/1zgy2q
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