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Lung health in Africa is of great public health concern. To exchange knowledge, communicate the latest scientific advances in lung health, build the capacity of young researchers, and provide a platform for networking of lung health stakeholders in Africa, the Pan African Thoracic Society (PATS), in partnership with the Respiratory Society of Kenya organized and held the 3rd Biennial PATS congress, from June 7–10, 2023 in Mombasa, Kenya. There were a total of 30 conference sessions, which included six skills building workshops, two research dissemination workshops, six plenary sessions, and five each of pediatric, adult, and thoracic surgery symposia. A total of 60 abstracts were presented, including 27 oral abstracts and 33 posters. A wide range of issues for lung health in Africa emerged. These include the emerging role of the environment, especially climate change and global warming, on lung health, the threat posed by the use of tobacco and other nicotine products in Africa, the high burden of lung infections, insecurity of medical oxygen supply systems, and high burden of chronic respiratory disease. In this paper, we summarize the proceedings of this conference and draw lessons that can be used to advance lung health in the African continent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

African culture is a rich reservoir of varying degrees of information. It encompasses unique knowledge originating from within Africa, which is reflected in its people's traditions and customs. This knowledge engrafts and provides solutions to a myriad of problems. Among others, it provides solutions to compelling environmental challenges like land degradation, water and air pollution, global warming and climate change. This paper presents a textual analysis of five (5) Sangu oral tales that represent ecological knowledge and practices of the Sangu people. This is done as a way to unriddle the ongoing environmental enigma in the Usangu Plain, and the world at large. The tales under scrutiny are: Umutwa na Avatambule Vaakwe ('The Chief and His Sub-chiefs'); iNjokha wiita Nguluvi ('Snake like God'); Munego ('A Trap'); iJungwa Sikhandi Vaanu ('Elephants Were Once Human Beings'); and Amagulu ga Nguluvi ('The Feet of God'). A total of twenty (20) tales were collected qualitatively through one-on-one in-depth interviews with Sangu storytellers; and then through a content analysis method: all of which found the five aforementioned tales fit for the subject matter. The results show that the telling of oral stories is not just an occasion but also a display of skills and knowledge of a particular people, and that solutions to the current global environmental crisis lie in people's traditions as expressed in their environment-related oral narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of still-low-but-rising levels of motorization and economic growth, increasing social and spatial inequalities, and growing concerns about air pollution and climate change, the formulation and implementation of policies, practices and partnerships that can support an accelerated implementation of sustainable mobility policies is an urgent concern for rapidly developing cities. This paper seeks to contribute to reframing some of the knowledge and methodologies produced in and about cities of Sub-Saharan Africa, through a comprehensive assessment of mobility patterns and accessibility needs within a larger debate about mobility transitions and sustainable development. By deploying a mixed-methods approach that builds upon case-study focus groups and city-wide accessibility and mobility analysis in the city of Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, the paper maps travel patterns and their links with structural factors such as urban form, poverty, informality and social identities at the macro, meso and micro levels. The paper also presents evidence from a variety of methods that illustrate the significance of accessibility-centred information and analysis for establishing policy priorities for improving urban mobility and accessibility in the local, African and global contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes and validates a methodology for the quantification of the daily African PM load during dust outbreaks in southern Europe. The daily net dust load in PM10 attributable to an African episode in a given region can be obtained by subtracting the daily regional background (RB) level from the PM10 concentration value at an RB station. As demonstrated in this paper, the daily RB level can be obtained by applying a monthly moving 30th percentile to the PM10 time series at an RB station after a prior extraction of the data of the days with African dust transport. The daily PM10 RB levels obtained can be subtracted from the daily PM10 levels recorded at the same RB site only on days when the occurrence of African dust outbreaks was demonstrated, the difference being the daily net African dust load. It is thus possible to quantify the African dust contribution during an African PM event in southern Europe without the need for PM speciation. The validation of this methodology was performed by comparing the estimated net dust load during African dust outbreaks at three RB stations and the crustal load determined by chemical speciation of PM10 filters. The correlation (r 2>0.6) and the equivalence (correlation lines’ slopes ∼1) were significant in the three cases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Today Africa is a small emitter, but it has a large and faster-than-average growing population and per capita income that could drive future energy demand and, if unconstrained, emissions. This paper uses a multi-model comparison to characterize the potential future energy development for Continental and Sub-Saharan Africa under different assumptions about population and income. Our results suggest that population and economic growth rates will strongly influence Africa's future energy use and emissions. We show that affluence is only one face of the medal and the range of future emissions is also contingent on technological and political factors. Higher energy intensity improvements occur when Africa grows faster. In contrast, climate intensity varies less with economic growth and it is mostly driven by climate policy. African emissions could account for between 5 % and 20 % of global emissions, with Sub-Saharan Africa contributing between 4 % and 10 % of world emissions in 2100. In all scenarios considered, affluence levels remain low until the middle of the century, suggesting that the population could remain dependent on traditional bioenergy to meet most residential energy needs. Although the share of electricity in final energy, electric capacity and electricity use per capita all rise with income, even by mid-century they do not reach levels observed in developed countries today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the long-term urban modification of mean annual conditions of near surface temperature in Nairobi City. Data from four weather stations situated in Nairobi were collected from the Kenya Meteorological Department for the period from 1966 to 1999 inclusive. The data included mean annual maximum and minimum temperatures, and was first subjected to homogeneity test before analysis. Both linear regression and Mann-Kendall rank test were used to discern the mean annual trends. Results show that the change of temperature over the thirty-four years study period is higher for minimum temperature than maximum temperature. The warming trends began earlier and are more significant at the urban stations than is the case at the sub-urban stations, an indication of the spread of urbanisation from the built-up Central Business District (CBD) to the suburbs. The established significant warming trends in minimum temperature, which are likely to reach higher proportions in future, pose serious challenges on climate and urban planning of the city. In particular the effect of increased minimum temperature on human physiological comfort, building and urban design, wind circulation and air pollution needs to be incorporated in future urban planning programmes of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the existence of numerous sources and continuing use, information regarding emissions and airborne concentrations of organochlorine pesticides in Africa is extremely limited. This paper presents results of a monitoring program conducted in Durban, South Africa that was designed to characterize levels, trends and possible sources of pesticides in both industrial and residential areas. Three monitoring sites were established, two in an industrialized area in the southern part of the city, and the third in a northern residential area. Particulate and vapor samples were sampled over the 2004–5 period and analyzed by GC/MS to estimate long-term levels of a wide range of pesticides. Based on a year of sampling, the sites had comparable levels of many pesticides with exceptions of α-chlordane and lindane. Levels of p,p''-DDT (42±27 pg m−3) and its derivatives were relatively high and showed an unusual mixture with high levels of p,p''-DDD (12±11 pg m−3). Other pesticides detected and quantified included aldrin, chlordanes, hexachlorobenzene and dieldrin. Potential source areas, identified using concentration patterns, local and regional gradients, compositional information and trajectory analyses, suggest that chlordane and lindane arise from both local sources as well as regional/global sources; DDT from regional sources elsewhere in South Africa, Africa and India; and most of the other long-lived pesticides detected, including γ-nonachlor, hexachlorobenzene and toxaphene, from global sources. This monitoring results, which represent the most detailed study to date of pesticides in air in Africa, serve several purposes, including documenting the presence and use of long-banned pesticides like aldrin, aiding the understanding of the fate of persistent compounds, identifying pollutants that may contribute to health problems, and informing decision-making aimed at reducing exposures and risks. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Since 1990 carbon dioxide emissions in Africa have increased by about 50%. The total carbon dioxide emissions of the entire African continent are not, however, anywhere near those of countries such as India or China. Yet certain African countries have per capita emissions comparable to some European countries. What is the outlook for Africa? How should African countries respond as it becomes increasingly likely that climate change is occurring? Increased industrial growth and more foreign investment in Africa, especially in countries that are politically and economically stable, have led to huge commercial developments such as the In Salah gas project in Algeria, which releases more than a million tons of carbon dioxide annually; and synthetic fuel plants and power stations in South Africa that generate more than 350 million tons per year. In this perspective should some African countries be required to limit greenhouse gas emissions or should they be immune to 'environmental taxation'? This paper critically reviews the carbon dioxide problem in some parts of Africa and its role in climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past 20 years, organized experimental campaigns as well as continuous development and implementation of air-pollution modeling have led to significant gains in the understanding of the paths and scales of pollutant transport and transformation in the greater Mediterranean region (GMR). The work presented in this paper has two major objectives: 1) to summarize the existing knowledge on the transport paths of particulate matter (PM) in the GMR and 2) to illustrate some new findings related to the transport and transformation properties of PM in the GMR. Findings from previous studies indicate that anthropogenically produced air pollutants from European sources can be transported over long distances, reaching Africa, the Atlantic Ocean, and North America. The PM of natural origin, like Saharan dust, can be transported toward the Atlantic Ocean and North America mostly during the warm period of the year. Recent model simulations and studies in the area indicate that specific long-range transport patterns of aerosols, such as the transport from Asia and the Indian Ocean, central Africa, or America, have negligible or at best limited contribution to air-quality degradation in the GMR when compared with the other sources. Also, new findings from this work suggest that the imposed European Union limits on PM cannot be applicable for southern Europe unless the origin (natural or anthropogenic) of the PM is taken into account. The impacts of high PM levels in the GMR are not limited only to air quality, but also include serious implications for the water budget and the regional climate. These are issues that require extensive investigation because the processes involved are complex, and further model development is needed to include the relevant physicochemical processes properly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]