Clean Air Catalyst World Pneumonia Day 2022 Activities
By Daniel Ibanez and Ginanjar Syuhada, November 21, 2022
The successful development and implementation of tailored solutions to reduce air pollution and to improve human health requires active engagement with key health practitioners from the government and private sector to address emerging health concerns related to poor air quality. Observed on November 12th, World Pneumonia Day was an opportunity for the Catalyst to engage with the health community on the connections between air pollution and respiratory disease.
In Jakarta, Catalyst partner Vital Strategies collaborated with the Center of Indonesia Medical Student Association (CIMSA) to train 30 medical students (22 women, 8 men) on how to recognize and treat illness caused by air pollution. As part of the workshop, the medical students explored the different impacts of poor air quality on women and other vulnerable groups. They also separated into groups to test their knowledge on air quality-related illnesses; the students role-played in a clinic and were tasked with identifying risk factors and other conditions that may exacerbate symptoms in order to give their patients medical advice and education about air pollution. At the end of the event, students filled out a survey which revealed that most of them were interested in advocacy and communications related to health effects of air pollution (e.g. health promotion and education) over conducting research.
In Indore, Vital Strategies and the USAID-funded Cleaner Air and Better Health project led a training for the Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) to equip them with the training and tools they need to be champions for clean air. ASHAs have a wide reach within their communities & can play a critical role in raising awareness on how to address air pollution. Dr. B S Setia, the Chief Medical Health Officer of Indore, also participated in the workshop and acknowledged the role of ASHAs in furthering this mission and appreciated the efforts being taken to tackle the issue of air pollution.
The ASHA training was followed by a workshop with the leading members of Indore’s public health community, focused around key sources of air pollution and their health impacts and opportunities for increased collaboration to implement clean air solutions. Both these workshops had active support and participation from the relevant government departments displaying the commitment of state authorities towards addressing air pollution.
In Nairobi, Vital Strategies, Nairobi City County Government and the Nairobi Catalyst team co-authored an editorial published on 12th November 2022 on the Nation Newspaper. The article highlighted the key drivers to child pneumonia attributed by air pollution and how the socio-economic status could influence the choice of household fuel hence predisposing people from low-resource settings who are approximately 60% of Nairobi’s population to the adverse health effects. The authors called upon the government to strengthen Private-Public Partnerships and leverage on the Clean Air Catalyst to create awareness on air pollution sources and build coalitions that will deliver sustainable solutions aimed at minimizing pollution and eventually promoting health.