INDOOR AIR POllUTION AS A RISK FACTOR FOR FATAL ANTHRACOSIS AND COPD IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA – THE CASE OF AN UNIDENTIFIED RWANDAN MALE ABOUT 50 YEARS - Rwanda Medical Journal, Vol. 73, No. 1, 2016, pp. 27-30

Air pollution one of the factors of climate change is a pressing issue in the world. Especially in third world countries, with carbon dioxide levels rising in the air, it is hard to breathe, and smog rates in cities such as Bangkok, Delhi are at all times high.

 Living in a developing country, the poor people usually migrate to urban cities to work, and usually end up working odd jobs. Living in slums these people burn biofuels or coal to either keep their house warm, to cook or have light at night. This results in them having heavy contact with indoor pollution. These are results of governments not having proper infrastructure to provide for the poor. Without electricity or gas, these people depend on burning wood, coal, whatever they can.

Similarly, this case study looked at the risks of indoor air pollution in Sub-Saharan Africa. This case study looks at a Rwandan male of the age of 50 years and his tendency of having anthracosis. Anthracosis is a disease that occurs due to the accumulation of coal dust in the lungs tissues, this takes places due to heavy pollution levels in major cities, smoking or in the coal mining sector.

This man was found dead in Kigali by the road side, he was fully clothed, and had no signs of trauma. His autopsy report of this man revises that he had severe chronic anthracnose’s, concluding that indoor air pollution, especially due to the burning of biomass and coal in a closed room is a risk factor for pulmonary diseases such as anthracosis.

This case depicts the morphological consequences of long-term exposure to the pollutants on humans. It concludes that there should be preventative methods to reduce the concentration of pollutants indoors by either using more technically advanced devices or improving ventilation in these rooms so the air could leave the room.