A new study has indicated that household air pollution is a major contributory factor to the sharp rise in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) deaths over the last three decades in Ghana.
The study, published by Frontiers in Medicine and conducted by Emmanuel Mensah, Min Liu, Yusheng Cheng, Shuoshuo Wei and Lei Yusheng Zha, found that “Ghana’s absolute COPD burden is increasing, driven by preventable risk factors such as household air pollution.”
The study noted that from 1990 to 2021, COPD deaths in Ghana rose by 157% from 693 to 1,782, despite deaths only rising by 49% globally.
“Ghana’s age-standardised death rate (ASDR) declined by only 7%, far below the global reduction of 37%. COPD prevalence in Ghana tripled, rising from 0.1 to 0.3 million, while incidence increased by 215% and Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) by 171%.”
Household air pollution from solid fuel use was identified as a major contributor to COPD deaths in Ghana, accounting for 40% of the lives lost, followed by ambient air pollution, which was linked to 25% of COPD deaths.
Worldwide, the trends were quite different, with particulate matter pollution linked to 41% of COPD deaths globally, ahead of smoking, which accounted for 36%.
Projections show an increased prevalence and incidence in adults aged 40-64, with mortality increasing significantly at the age of 60, with males at higher risk.
State of Global Air
The recently released State of Global Air 2025 report also noted the impact of household air pollution on Ghana’s populace.
4,541 deaths amongst children under 10 years old were linked to household air pollution, mostly from cooking with solid fuels, like wood, charcoal and dung, while 12,790 deaths were recorded amongst persons aged between 50 and 85.
In total, the number of deaths attributable to HAP from solid fuels in Ghana saw a slight decline from 23,400 in 2022 to 23,100 in 2023.
Globally, HAP was responsible for 2,763,000 deaths in 2023, a drop from 2,904,000 deaths the previous year.
Low and middle-income countries like Ghana, where a large percentage of the population still use solid fuels like charcoal and wood to cook, contributed to 90% of deaths worldwide.
Click HERE for the full State of Global Air 2025 report
Clean fuel
Emmanuel Mensah, Min Liu, Yusheng Cheng, Shuoshuo Wei and Lei Yusheng Zha suggested in their study that targeted policies to reduce the use of solid fuels, like clean cook-stove programmes, could be beneficial for countries like Ghana in reducing their COPD burden, while improved air quality monitoring would help identify high-priority areas for policy implementation.
This story was a collaboration with New Narratives. Funding was provided by the Clean Air Fund, which had no say in the story’s content.