GERD: Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

Energy is a crucial component of health systems. Clean energy is essential for human health and wellbeing, and it minimises air pollution. In so doing, the number of people admitted to hospitals due to respiratory infection will reduce sharply decongesting our already saturated health systems. The process of diagnosis and treatment also demand a reliable source of energy, preferably clean energy. Simply, vaccines and medicines need to be refrigerated; equipment needs sterilisation and light are needed for operations and emergencies at night. Therefore, clean energy can be regarded as a crucial tool for both prevention and cure.

Sustainable access to basic electricity and transition to environmentally harmful energy sources reduce air pollution, making people less vulnerable to disease. About 4.2 million deaths every year are linked to air pollution and exposure, while a recent Harvard analysis showed that people living in contaminated cities were more likely to die of COVID-19. Clean energy can also help avoid greenhouse gas emissions and protect communities from the dangerous effects of climate change.

In 2016, household air pollution was responsible for 3.8 million deaths, and 7.7% of the global mortality. Indoor pollution is a major health risk, particularly for respiratory diseases. The situation is worse in low-income households as the following graph illustrates that the highest death rate from indoor air pollution is those with very low access to clean and the vice versa.

The percentage share of death from indoor air pollution, burning of solid fuel and coal for cooking, is 6.56% in Ethiopia, 4.86% in Sudan, 6.12% in Egypt. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam provides clean energy and contributes significantly to ensuring the much sought after access to clean energy for North-Eastern Africa. Thus, GERD can play a significant role in preventing deaths resulting from air pollution and also provide adequate electricity for health care facilities.