Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

Respiratory diseases
have become the third
most serious health
problem in the region.
Oil industry practices
mean that waste
management is a
problem for rural
inhabitants, not just for
city dwellers, as is the
case elsewhere in
Nigeria.
Box 3.7: Air Pollution in Developing Countries
Although air pollution is normally seen as
predominantly a problem of industrial
countries, more than 90 per cent of the
deaths from this form of pollution occur
in the developing world. And while air
pollution is normally considered to occur
mainly outdoors, more than 80 per cent
of the casualties are from indoor
pollution. Another misconception is that
air pollution mainly affects towns and cities,
but more than two-thirds of the mortalities
are in rural areas.
Poor people in developing countries are
at the bottom of the energy ladder. They
must burn dung, wood and crop residues
indoors for their cooking and heating,
especially in sub-Saharan Africa, the region
with the majority of the least developed
countries. In most other regions, traditional
fuel use has declined substantially during
the past two decades. Traditional fuels are
much more polluting than modern
alternatives such as kerosene, propane,
biogas and electricity. Burning such fuel
fills houses with smoke swirling with
hundreds of toxic substances, killing 2.2
million people a year, mostly in rural areas,
Source: Culled from Selim Jahan in Fukuda-Parr and Shiva Kumar 2003.
In addition to the probable high level of
outdoor pollution in the Niger Delta, the
evidence also points to acute indoor
pollution. The burning of fuel wood for
domestic cooking is the predominant
practice, often in conditions of housing
congestion, poor ventilation and poor
nutrition. The last increases susceptibility
to health problems such as respiratory
infections, and lung and heart problems.
Although there are no concrete data, the
inference is that air pollution-related health
problems are rising. In the survey of
households carried out by the NDDC,
respiratory diseases are the third most
serious health problem (mentioned by 12.3
per cent of households), coming after
malaria (73 per cent) and diarrhoea (19.4
per cent). Until very recently, respiratory
disease was never a serious health problem
in the region.
where most of the poor live. Both indoor
air pollution and poor nutrition increase
susceptibility to respiratory infections.
Outdoor air pollution—once almost
entirely concentrated in the industrial
countries—is now quickly growing in the
developing world. Rapid industrialization
in many countries has greatly increased
pollution, and the spread of motorized
vehicle ownership is raising emissions all
over the world. Vehicle exhaust, coal
burning and smoke from factories form
small particles in the air that cause serious
health damage.
Lead, often added to petrol and emitted
by car exhaust, has been eliminated from
petrol in some OECD countries and is
being phased out in others, but it is still
used heavily in developing and transition
economies. In these countries, it continues
to harm human health, permanently
impairing children’s development. The
children of the poorest urban dwellers
often are worst affected, because they tend
to live near busy roads.
The costs incurred in dealing with health
problems are very high. Beyond hospital
fees and the costs of drugs, sick people
and their relations spend a lot of money
on transportation. This is due largely to the
fact that health care facilities are few and
widely dispersed. In the difficult swamp
environment of the core Niger Delta,
travelling to health care centres is a tedious
and time-consuming undertaking.
Waste Management and Health
As indicated above, the rate of waste
generation in the Niger Delta has risen
astronomically. Wastes come from both oil
and non-oil industrial establishments, and
from the local markets and residences. In
the oil-producing areas, both liquid and solid
wastes are sometimes carelessly discarded
on land, and in swamps and water bodies,
leading to the contamination of
groundwater in some places (see box 3.8).
88 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT