A non-governmental organisation, the C2REST Study Nigeria in collaboration with the Centre for 21st Century Issues has commenced medical research on climate change on respiratory health of residents of Ajegunle in Ado-Odo/Otta Local Government Area of Ogun State.
The project kicked off on Friday at the town hall of the community when the NGO organised its sensitisation and stakeholder meeting with leaders of various groups within the town.
The event provided an avenue for residents of the host community to learn more about climate change and its effects on the planet as well as on humanity.
It (the meeting) also afforded the leadership of the NGO to sample opinions about issues around climate change as a form of feedback mechanism for its advocacy and research programmes which is expected to span a period of 18 months.
The Coordinator of C2REST Study Nigeria, Dr Obianuju Ozoh, who is also an associate professor of medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, told Saturday Telegraph that “The goal of this study is to understand the effects of Climate Change on respiratory health in this community.”
She stated that the research efforts are coming on the heels of an earlier one conducted in Lagos State early in the year and that efforts would be geared towards generating a database for the level or quality of sanitation in the area considering the fact that the local government is one of the industrial hubs of the state.
“We are carrying the project in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government of Ogun State because this is the place where we have a high-level concentration of industries, so we are going to see the effect of air pollution in this area.
“The goal of this project is to first of all engage members of the community and we have already done that today. We are doing this so that they can understand the effects of climate change, their contributions to climate change,” Ozoh said.
The second aspect will be to monitor the health quality in the community by placing gadgets in various parts of the town with the aim of generating data.
