Activities to mark the 4th UN International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies Yaounde, Cameroon 7th September, 2023

This year awareness raising and advocacy activities marked the 4th UN International Day of Clean for Blue Skies in Yaounde Cameroon. This was the second ever clean air day event in Cameroon organized by the Association for the Promotion of Youth Leadership, Advocacy and Volunteerism Cameroon (APYLAV). A range of public events took place promoting clean air in Cameroon, thanks to a grant from the European Lung Foundation Healthy Lungs for Life campaign.

Over 200 school students have been taught about the importance of clean air and how to advocate for change over the last month. The focus of these trainings was on asthma care and relation to air pollution and climate change within two secondary schools, with asthma being more prevalent and severe among adolescents from recent Global Asthma Network conducted study in Cameroon.

20 pupils from two secondary schools then took part in an event with representatives for the Minister of Public Health as well as the Minister of Communication in Cameroon among others. This year’s Clean Air Day event with 50 participants was authorised to be held at the Ministry of Public Health. Both ministries were impressed with the student advocates and made commitments to support future action.

The 4th Global Asthma Report 2022(GAR) was presented publicly for the first time during this Clean Air Day event to stakeholders with key recommendations for government officials and healthcare workers present.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also invited the event organisers representing the Global Youth Strategy (GYS) on Air Pollution and Climate Health to speak during the launch of OpenWHO online course on Air Pollution and Health for health workers at the start of September.

A full event report is now available. Download