New Clean Energy Research Initiative was launched yesterday to address the burden of non-communicable diseases caused by household air pollution in sub-Sahara Africa.

New Initiative for CLEAN-Air(Africa) Launched at KEMRI

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

New Clean Energy Research Initiative was launched yesterday to address the burden of non-communicable diseases caused by household air pollution in sub-Sahara Africa. CLEAN-Air(Africa) Initiative, a collaborative initiative between KEMRI and University of Liverpool and funded by UK National Institute for Health (NIRH), was officially launched by KEMRI Director General Prof Sam Kariuki at KEMRI Training Centre, Nairobi. 

Prof Dan Pope, Co-Director noted that initiative would further promote an opportunity to implement strategies to address burden of disease from HAP by providing evidence for national policies to transition to clean energy.
Prof Dan Pope, Co-Director noted that initiative would further promote an opportunity to implement strategies to address burden of disease from HAP by providing evidence for national policies to transition to clean energy.

At a colorful ceremony attended by among other local and international dignitaries such as Prof. Mirium Were, a Champion for clean air and Kenyan public health advocate the first Hideyo Noguchi Africa Prize winner and nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize,  NIHR Assistant Director Global Health Dr. Sarah Puddicombe, and Prof. Dan Pope, Director CLEAN-Air(Africa), is a five year project that seeks meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG #7 ) initiative of ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.

"The agenda for CLEAN-Air(Africa) is simple. There is an urgent need for rapid & scaled transition to clean household energy in countries that currently rely on polluting solid fuels for cooking. As an Institute we pledge our full support towards this initiative." Dg. Prof Kariuki

The official launch of a new sub-Saharan African collaboration led by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) will help scale adoption of clean energy to reduce respiratory and cardiovascular disease from exposure household air pollution, responsible for 634,000 preventable deaths each year in the region.

Our partners during the inauguration of the Africa’s clean energy initiative that seeks to reduce household air pollution responsible for the burden of disease in sub-Sahara Africa.
Our partners during the inauguration of the Africa’s clean energy initiative, an initiative that seeks to reduce household air pollution responsible for the burden of disease in sub-Sahara Africa.

The NIHR Global Health Research Unit on CLEAN-Air(Africa) is a £7 million (approx. Ksh. 1 billion) initiative funded by the UK National Institute for Health (NIRH) and Care research under their Global Health Research program. The collaboration brings together academic, research and clinical experts from Kenya, UK, Cameroon, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda to provide research evidence for national policies supporting populations transition from polluting solid fuels (e.g., wood, charcoal, biomass) and kerosene to clean fuels/ energy.

A five-year programme of policy-oriented research and health systems strengthening will provide an evidence base for national strategies to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7 ‘Universal access to affordable and clean energy’, that will improve health (SDG3), gender equality (SDG5), economic growth (SDG8) and climate (SDG13) by 2030.

Clean-Air(Africa) Goodwill Ambassador Prof. Miriam Were in her speech expressed her joy at being part of the CAA team highlighting the key to successful implementation of policies is through community engagement specifically through Community Health Workers
Clean-Air(Africa) Goodwill Ambassador Prof. Miriam Were in her speech expressed her joy at being part of the CAA team highlighting the key to successful implementation of policies is through community engagement specifically through Community Health Workers

The NIHR CLEAN-Air(Africa) Unit involves research partners from KEMRI, the University of Liverpool, Moi University, University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University Lung Institute, Rwanda Biomedical Center and Eagle Research Center and Douala General Hospital.

The NIHR CLEAN-Air(Africa) Unit is co-Directed by Dr James Mwitari from KEMRI and Professor Daniel Pope and Dr Elisa Puzzolo from the University of Liverpool. CLEAN-Air(Africa) is a flag ship initiative of the Energy, Air Pollution and Health Research Group at the University of Liverpool’s Department of Public Health, Policy and Systems.

Related Updates

This research was funded by the NIHR (NIHR134530) using UK aid from the UK Government to support global health research. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the UK government.

Funded by NIHCR
UK aid

For more information about the Unit and its work please complete the request below

© 2024. CLEAN-Air(Africa)

Facebook X-twitter Linkedin