CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Pollution according to national geographic society is the introduction of harmful materials in to the environment, and these harmful materials are called pollutants. Pollutants can be natural such as volcanic ash that is created by human activities, inappropriate waste management, runoff produced by factories and dumping of refuse in rivers and streams. Pollutants damage the quality of air water and land which often affects public health, Pollution is a global problem although urban areas are more polluted than semi urban areas and villages. It is not harmful only to human life but to aquatic life and it is cyclical because pollution affects not only a particular area or country but the other countries around.  In the past visitors to big Bend National Park in the US state of Texas could see 290 kilometers (180 miles) across the vast landscape now coal burning plants in Chihuahua, Mexico have spewed so much pollution in to the air that visitors to big Bend can sometimes see only 50 kilometers (30miles).

There are three types of pollution which are air, water and land pollution which are very dangerous to public health, air pollution leads to difficulties in breathing, and increases the risk of lungs cancer, in 1984 a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India released a deadly gas in to the air and it killed approximately 8,000 people within few days and hundreds of thousands were permanently injured, volcanic gases such as sulfur dioxide can kill and make the soil infertile.

In 1986 a toxic cloud developed over lake Nyos in Cameroon and ejected volcanic gasses in to air which killed 1700 people, thousands of cattle and birds. Most pollution are not natural but rather caused by human activities like waste from industries, inappropriate waste dumping, burning of fossil fuels, coal and oil spills which produces carbon monoxide that is not good for public health, So there is therefore a need to sensitize the population of Bamenda III about the effects of environmental pollution to their health. Human activities such as burning of fossil fuel and deforestation have increased the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which has led to an increase on the effect of greenhouse effects and rising temperatures across the globe.

Researchers recorded the year 2000 as the warmest which average temperatures had increased in to a higher magnitude and predicted that before 20III5 a terrible global warming may occur that might cause skin cancer to millions of people in the world. Polluted water is unsafe for drinking and swimming because people can consume bacteria and other tiny aquatic organisms that cause diseases that are dangerous to public health.

The united Nations estimates that 4,000 children die globally every day as a result of drinking dirty water.  some water pollutions are caused by oil and gas spills on oceans and some are caused by human activities such as chemicals dumped by companies in to rivers because they want to evade the cost of proper waste dumping, mining and drilling.

 In April 2010 the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico the oil slick coated wetlands in the U.S states of Louisiana and Mississippi killing marshy plants and aquatic life, So it is of importance that we sensitize and prevent this pollution from happening in Bamenda III looking at the mile III river and the inappropriate dumping site along the road.

1.1 The Research Context                

The lack of adequate management of refuse dumps has contributed to the increasing pollution of the environment and it is still a clog in the increasing in the wheel of environmental development Taiwo and Ajayi, (201III). Environmental pollution is important not only urban areas but also because of the pathogens with liquid and solid waste and inappropriate wasted dumping contained and transmitted by direct handling of water, food, insects or rodents (Akanmu, 2016; Fadamiro, 1986). The unplanned or inadequate planning of cities in developing countries like Cameroon are usually grappled with sanitation problems which therefore possess threats in human life such as pollution and degradation of aesthetics (Fadiro, 2010).

 Therefore, the research topic environmental pollution and public health in Bamenda III municipality is of importance as Bamenda is suffering from pollution and public health effects and the population is facing consequences of public health diseases such as breathing problems and malaria cause by mosquitos habited in the inappropriate dumping sides along the road.

The state of pollution in the city is relatively bad which has affected the public health of individuals living it. The general outbreak of diseases in the world such as pulmonary diseases, bacterial infections and malaria as a result of pollution and Bamenda III is not an exception.

According to WHO, Air pollution kills an estimated 7 million people every year and it is the biggest environmental health risk of our time. Pollutants are responsible for about one third deaths from strokes, chronic respiratory diseases and lung cancer. The world health organization (WHO) 2021 estimates that 4.2 million people die prematurely every year from outdoor pollution, III.8 from indoor pollution and approximately 7 million people die in total every year from pollution. Environmental pollution is increasingly a problem in Cameroon like in most African countries where environmental consequences of development cannot be ignored.

 In 2012, an estimated 9 million people died from air water and land pollution According to the institute of metrics and evaluations (IHME) and Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, diseases attributed to indoor and outdoor air pollution were responsible for 1 in 10 deaths worldwide in 201III, and air pollution has become the fourth risk factor for premature deaths. Liquid industrial waste in Cameroon in Cameroon was estimated at 84,290m per year by (MINEPDED, UNDP 2006). As the impact of human activities and issues of environmental health have become increasingly global in the scale and extent, the need to recognize and to address the health risk associated with environmental becomes even more urgent. The cost of inaction arising from these environmental challenges attributable to pollution will be too high to be neglected in the future. Addressing these challenges today for a pollution free future should therefore be a priority. According to the WHO reports in the year 2006, approximately 2.6 billion people suffered from poor pollution two third living in Asia and Sub-Saharan countries.

This study falls with the context of some sustainable development goals (SDGs) viz SDGIII good health and wellbeing, SDG7 affordable and clean energy, SDG11 sustainable cities and communities, SDG12 sustainable consumption and production and SDG1III climate action. These SDGs were drafted by the  world health organization in 2015 to replace the millennium development goals of guiding and maintaining a healthy environment for all, the problem of environmental pollution today has assumed a serious and gigantic portion and threatens the very existence of human society (Ibrahim-Adedeji, 2015) pollution is destroying the environment forgetting that the environment is the basis of existence of living beings including human beings (Acheampong 2010).

Nowadays, the problem of poor environmental pollution has increased leading to high death rates due to contamination of diseases such as pulmonary diseases like lung cancer, heart attacks, typhoid, malaria and cholera from drinking contaminated and polluted water, hence it is necessary to find new patterns and methods of how to manage and curb pollution. Raise awareness on indiscriminate disposal of waste in rivers, land surface and road sites in Bamenda III, ensure that we have clean environments so as to limit health risk factors caused by pollution, therefore this topic is important because it seeks to educate people in Bamenda and around the globe the dangers and effects of poor environment pollution in order to ensure the good individuals using Bamenda III as the main focus of our research.

1.2 Statement of the Research Problem

Bamenda is classified and characterize by a lot of economic activities and a dense population and faces a lot of pollution problems. Pollution according to Environmental management, 2017 is the contamination of the physical and biological components of the earth or atmospheric system to such an extent that normal processes are adversely affected. Kankam –Yeboah et al., (2010) mainly identifies that pollution in public spaces has public health consequences that lead to environmental damage, increased rates of infections, deaths and disease outbreak thereby requiring medical attention and increasing health cost and standards of living. 

The practice of unsustainable and environmental pollution activities in Bamenda III like, dumping of refuse in inappropriate areas, burning of waste and pollution from industries can lead to the outbreak of diseases such as breathing difficulties, cancer, heart attack, malaria, and cholera infections which negatively affects the health and living conditions of the population. Hence it is evident and relatable that when the health sector of any country is under attack by diseases it cripples other sectors of the economy and aspects of life such incomes, consumption and living standards of the people.

It is therefore a great risk that the health of the Bamenda III population is under attack as less attention is given to environmental pollution and public health of its inhabitants. This can be linked to several reasons  such as the socio-political instability in Cameroon that is making multi- national cooperation MNCs to invest in Cameroon and with the notion of evading the high tax placed on waste disposal, they take short cuts by dumping them in rivers and causing negative externalities, a good example of these externalities was the case of the floating pigs in China in 2014, where a company evaded the cost of disposing pigs and dumbed them in the river, the air in China at that time was not suitable for human inhabitation, the population of Bamenda III uneducated and sensitized on the importance of a pollution free economy and the dangerous effects or diseases caused by pollution to the economy lastly weak laws governing Cameroon’s economy that have made people pay less attention to proper waste management. Therefore, it is important that the issue of environmental pollution in Bamenda III be considered cause the population is negatively affected, a sick society is an indicator of slow growth which leads us to few questions that guides the statement of the problem, is environmental pollution directly related to public health! can environmental pollution be managed if yes what is the role of stakeholders!

1.3 Research Questions

1.3.1 Main Research Question

What are the effects of environmental pollution on public health in Bamenda III?

1.3.2 Specific Questions

1) What is the state of environmental pollution in Bamenda III?

2) How does environmental pollution affect public health in Bamenda III?

1.4 Research Objectives

1.4.1 Main Objective

The main research objective of this study is to assess the effects of environmental pollution on public health in Bamenda III. It will be guided by the following specific objectives;

1.4.2 Specific Objectives 

1) To investigate the level of people’s knowledge and actions towards environmental pollution and public in Bamenda III.

2) To find out the drivers of environmental pollution and the types of environmental pollution in Bamenda III. 

3) To look at the effects of environmental pollution on the population and actions taken by stakeholders to address the situation