[automatically translated from the original]
- Summary:
- Background:
Air pollution is a major environmental public health issue, responsible for about 7 million premature deaths in 2021 and the loss of millions of years of healthy life. Low- to middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, whether indoor or outdoor. Some households, due to their lifestyles or activities, are faced with continuous exposure well beyond the recommendations of the WHO. In children, exposure to pollution particles has serious and significant consequences on lung health and causes sometimes irreversible deficits. This interdisciplinary and multi-country research project (Côte dIvoire and Ethiopia) focuses on children under the age of 15 who are more or less exposed to various sources of pollution. We are interested in their respiratory health status, their current and previous exposures to air pollution, their levels of exposure, as well as their perceptions and knowledge about air pollution.
- Hypotheses:
Children living in an environment with high PM 2.5 concentrations have more respiratory symptoms than children living in a less polluted environment regarding fine particles. The knowledge about the various sources of air pollution exposure as well as the consequences on health and the environment is little known to children. Implementing interventions to reduce air pollution exposure in children would lead to savings in healthcare for families as well as in fuel purchases.
- Objectives:
Document the challenges, determinants, and impacts on the respiratory health of family, occupational, and environmental exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution in African children living in urban areas.
- Methods:
We are conducting 2 studies to meet our objectives. The cross-sectional study, APIMAMA Kids, will evaluate the frequency of respiratory disorders and symptoms before and after the implementation of improved stoves, decreasing biomass combustion pollution, in children under the age of 15.
