Abstract:
The environmental and occupational burden of disease is ravaging the global
economies, with the combined burden of disease and DALYs constituting at least
25%. This has reached alarming levels in developing countries, with over 60% of
this burden borne by the Sub-Saharan Africa. To partly address these concerns, the
Global Environmental and occupational health (GEOHealth) Eastern African Hub
has been established. The five-year research, training and capacity building Hub
runs from Sept 2015 till August 2020, with an aim of building capacity, training
and conducting research to generate evidence for policy in air pollution, climate
change and occupational health. The specific objectives are to: (i) assess the effect
of ambient air pollution on cause-specific hospitalization and mortality; (ii) assess
the effect of ambient and indoor air quality on child pulmonary function in Nairobi;
and (iii) to assess the effect of heat stress on workers engaged in flower green
houses in the neighbourhoods of Nairobi city. Multiple study designs will be used to
meet the above objectives of the Nairobi based research as follows: (i) continuous
measurement of the level of ambient air pollution (PM2.5) prospectively in a central
site in the city in parallel with collecting secondary data on hospital admission and
discharge in 6 hospitals; (ii) nephelometric measurement of micro-catchment air
pollution around 10 schools, to be related to the spirometry tests of one thousand
10 year old pupils; and temperature and Relative humidity measurements to
determine heat stress in occupational settings. Data will be collected using different
equipment such as: air quality measuring instruments (Beta Attenuation Monitor
and Nephelometer); Spirometer for pulmonary function test (PFT); and Easy Log
RH / Temp Data loggers for Occupational Health stress. In addition, questionnaires
will be used for background data, and data acquisition checklist for secondary data.
Data will be entered and cleaned using Epi Info Ver 3.5.1, and the analysis done
using SPSS V 20.0. Summary statistics, multivariate regression using Ors with 95%
CI, exposure modelling will be utilized to describe the study subjects and exposure
levels to air pollution. The Hub activities in Kenya are already ongoing, with progress
made in many fronts. Ethical clearance and permission for data collection will be
