Over 28,000 Ghanaians die annually from air pollution

The Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) has raised alarm over the worsening sanitation and pollution crisis in the capital, warning that poor waste management and air pollution have become major threats to public health.

According to the AMA’s Director of Public Health, Florence Kuukyi, more than 28,000 people die every year in Ghana due to air pollution, the equivalent of one life lost every 19 minutes.

Describing the situation as “disheartening,” Ms. Kuukyi said the combination of poor waste disposal, open defecation, and the indiscriminate burning of refuse is fuelling the spread of diseases such as cholera and typhoid while contaminating the air Ghanaians breathe.

“This is leading to several diseases, not just diarrhea and typhoid. It also has an impact on the air you breathe.
Studies have it that in Ghana, over 28,000 people die prematurely due to air pollution. This means that every 19 minutes, somebody dies due to air pollution,” she said.

Ms. Kuukyi emphasized that keeping the city clean requires collective effort and not reliance on government alone.

“Sanitation in the country is a collective and collaborative effort. Everyone has a role to play in addressing sanitation issues.
In Ghana, we are practicing the ‘pollutant pay’ system, where individuals who generate waste must pay for it to be disposed of. That is where the issues come in. People generate waste and do not want to take on that responsibility and push everything on the government,” she explained.

She urged residents to take personal responsibility for managing their waste and collaborate with city authorities to keep Accra clean and safe.

Ms. Kuukyi warned that without urgent and coordinated action, pollution-related illnesses and deaths will continue to rise, threatening public health and the capital’s liveability.

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