The Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) and the Ministry of Health have partnered with UrbanBetter, an advocacy and research platform on the CITYZENS4CLEANAIR initiative to address various health challenges emanating from the environmental pollution in different parts of the state.
‘Cityzens4CleanAir’ is a campaign on clean air and physical activity to support evidence-informed advocacy for healthy climate-resilient public spaces in Lagos, Accra and Cape Town.
It involves working with youths running through their city while measuring the quality of air and the built environment.
The campaign aim is to emphasize the impact of air pollution on health and climate change, the importance of measuring air quality and the potential of young people as societal change agents for healthy public space.
Professor Akin Abayomi, Commissioner for Health, in a statement said that the Citizens4ClearAir run initiative is a welcome development to engage and encourage young people in the state to be proactive partners in efforts to protect the environment.
He stressed that the impact of air pollution on health is enormous and as such monitoring air quality is one of the first steps in understanding how air quality is impacting the health of Lagos residents.
Also, Dr. Adedolapo Fasawe, General Manager, LASEPA, said the agency had been embarking on a series of advocacy and public enlightenment sessions as a way of appealing to the conscience of the residents rather than only focusing on enforcement of the provisions of the law, which according to her, should be the last resort by the Agency.
Dr. Tolullah Oni, “Cityzens4CleanAir” campaign leader, and UrbanBetter founder, criticized the levels of air pollution in Lagos, stressing that most Lagosians live in unhealthy public spaces that increase their risk of diseases like asthma, pneumonia, and heart attack among others.
She referenced World bank statistics which showed that in 2020, air pollution in Lagos was responsible for thousands of premature deaths, including the deaths of infants younger than one-year-old, adding that the statistics indicated that adults also suffered from heart disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases as a result of pollution.
She acknowledged the need for more advocacy grounded in evidence about the various exposures that negatively impact health and the potential role that individuals and organizations can play to ensure the design and use of public spaces reduce pollution and support healthy behaviors like running and walking.
Oni said the campaign will be led by youths between the ages of 18 and 35 who have recently been selected by citizen scientists and will be designing the running routes in a workshop organized by UrbanBetter in Lagos.
During the Lagos run, which will be on 17 September, they will utilize air quality sensors and a smartphone app to record video, photo and audio of the aspects of the built environment that affects their health and performance.
The data stories they generate will then be used by the youth to design advocacy campaigns to be implemented in November and beyond.
