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Fossil fuels increasing non-communicable diseases in Kampala - KCCA
A picture showing a vehicle emitting smoke in Kampala on May 27, 2022. Vehicles have been some of the biggest contributors to air pollution in Uganda. Photo/ Abubaker Lubowa
What you need to know:
- Kampala is ranked 3rd highest polluted city in Africa and 8th in the world.
Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) has revealed that the increasing cases of Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in Uganda’s capital are driven by fossil fuels.
This comes at a time when researchers from Makerere University linked 7,257 deaths in the past four years to air pollution.
Speaking during the launch of Supertech, a new technology meant to reduce carbon emissions by actors that use fossil fuels when inserted inside the fuel tank, Ms Olive Namazi, the KCCA minister for public health and environment said, “the atmosphere in the city has been beleaguered with harmful issues caused by petrol and diesel hence NCDs.”
“The ever-increasing use of petrol and diesel to run most of actors that operate in the city coupled with importation of used cars has made city dwellers at risk of getting infected NCD’s,” she said.
According to her, in order to counter this ever-increasing city air pollution, “they are working closely with Kampala Air Quality body, National Environmental Management Authority and encouraging planting of trees in the city.”
She said, Kampala is ranked 3rd highest polluted city in Africa and 8th in the world as 9 out of 10 residents inhale polluted air while 2.1 percent die of it and 3.8 percent fall sick.
Ms Namazi called on city residents to embrace new technologies like Supertech that aims to reduce carbon emissions so that everybody in Kampala breaths good air hence less cases of sickness.
Mr Steven Estifanos managing director calcigrub general trading company limited described this Supertech as a cutting-edge combustion optimizer designed to deliver a substantial reduction in gas emissions of up to 80 percent contributing to a cleaner and greener environment.
“Supertech is simply installed inside the fuel tank of your vehicle, motorcycle or generator to combat the unburned fuel into energy thereby automatically reducing on amount of bad smoke being emitted into air,” he said.
