By Editorial,
Experts at Makerere University Lung Institute have warned that exposure to air pollution by pregnant women is catastrophic to their unborn babies.
Speaking to journalists in an interview just after the institute launched results of a study which found very high levels of air pollution in Kampala and Jinja cities, Dr.Rebecca Nantanda, a researcher said exposure to toxic air leads to producing babies of low birth weight which can cause lifelong health harm to those affected.
She says for unborn babies toxic air doesn’t only affect the lungs but their brain and the heart. Dr. Rebecca speaking….
Dr Gabriel Okello, a researcher at the University of Cambridge who collaborated with researchers at the Lung Institute to conduct this four year long study says they assessed hospital data to determine the relationship between disease and air quality and found that in instances where poor air quality levels were high, also hospital visits with respiratory disease complaints were high. END.