Air Pollution in the DRC: Addressing a Hidden Health Crisis
- Paulson Kasereka
- 36 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Air pollution is not just a health problem: it's a climate, environmental, and economic challenge. It's an invisible but omnipresent enemy. Omnipresent, since global data from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants.
In addition to being an invisible danger that can unexpectedly and unpredictably destroy lives, air pollution in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) constitutes a major public health crisis with profound consequences for human life. According to the Air Quality Life Index 2025 from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) reduces the average life expectancy of Congolese people by approximately 2.9 years. This is in contrast to a scenario where air quality in the DRC meets WHO recommendations. This difference is far more than the ~3.6 months lost to HIV/AIDS, and at a level comparable to other traditional health threats.
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What the Science Says
The health effects of air pollution have recently been documented, showing that the percentage of deaths from specific causes attributable to air pollution in East African countries (including the DRC) in 2021Â was as follows:
89% of deaths from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (also known as COPD),
20% of deaths from diabetes,
49% of deaths from ischemic heart disease,
63% of deaths from lung cancer,
56% of deaths from stroke,
61% of deaths from lower respiratory tract infections, and
35% of neonatal deaths.
For example, recent (but not yet published) studies conducted in Kinshasa have established links between PM2.5 and asthma, and between low birth weight and asthma.
Children are most affected by air pollution. Children have developing lungs and a high respiratory rate. Their vulnerability results from combined exposure to outdoor and indoor pollution. This distinction is important because the health effects begin early and accumulate throughout life. The longer the exposure to pollutants, the more critical and sometimes irreversible the health effects.
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The Reality of Major Cities in the DRC
Most major urban centers in the DRC face a worrying reality: poor air quality and an unsafe environment due to poorly managed waste, with pollution levels about 10 times higher than the WHO global air quality guidelines. This is a health burden as serious as those posed by communicable diseases that have historically dominated public health priorities.
Kinshasa: unsanitary conditions, waste burned in public spaces, and outdated vehicles (Credit: P. Kasereka Isevulambire)
In major DRC urban centers, such as the capital, Kinshasa, children are daily exposed to air pollution and a very dirty, unsanitary environment: on the way to and from school and while at school. In addition to exposure related to cooking food at home, traffic congestion, waste incineration, and the use of solid fuels.
Left: A child on his way to school. Right: Children at school. (Credit: P. Kasereka Isevulambire)
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About WASARU
WASARUÂ is an organization in the DRC whose mission is to promote community-driven solutions, informed by scientific research and accurate local data on air quality, climate resilience, sanitation, and agriculture. We aim to protect communities from the effects of an unhealthy environment and advocate for their involvement in decision-making processes concerning current environmental and climate issues.
At WASARU, we believe that clean air is not a luxury but a priority for public health, climate resilience, and development. Through community-based solutions grounded in local data, information sharing, and community engagement, we work to make air pollution visible and understandable, and to take concrete actions to combat it and promote clean air in the DRC.
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WASARU works in partnership with organizations such as FLUSH and is the DRC's partner organization for all DRC-focused projects. In addition to being WASARU Founder, I am an Associate & West/Central Africa Lead for FLUSH; and WASARU is the DRC’s partner for FLUSH.
Actions by WASARU
WASARU clean air program implements actions including:
monitoring air quality, including in schools through WASARU's Kinshasa Air Quality Project,
raising awareness and sharing information with the community,
sharing information on the local Air Quality Index,
Schools4Clean Air program, and
The "Children Ambassadors for Clean Air" initiative: training the next generation of air quality ambassadors.
From Awareness to Protection: WASARU's Call to Action
Air pollution is not just a health problem: it is a climate, environmental, and economic challenge. In the DRC, air pollution is an invisible enemy with profound consequences for human life.
Faced with this problem, the WASARU team believes that air pollution is preventable and that the solution must include actions such as collecting reliable data, community engagement, awareness-raising (education), and information sharing.
Along with FLUSH, we call on:
Donors and international agencies:Â to treat air pollution in the DRC as an urgent public health, climate, and development crisis, and to fund local actors involved in the air quality sector, research, and community action.
DRC government and institutions responsible for air pollution: to develop national air quality standards; to develop (or update existing) environmental and health policies to include air quality; and to establish an air quality government monitoring system.
Urban municipal authorities:Â to integrate air quality control and air pollution prevention into urban development strategies and policies.
Academic researchers: to work with Congolese institutions as equal partners, prioritize locally relevant evidence, ensure that air pollution knowledge is accessible, and shared openly.
Air quality professionals in the DRC:Â to collaborate, engage communities, translate data into action, and speak collectively for clean air as a fundamental right.