Expert links rising cancer cases, deformities to emissions

Health and Environmental consultant, Dr. Obi Anyadiegwu, has attributed the rise in cancer diseases, liver and deformities among babies to harmful and dangerous emissions from factories in big cities.

He also called for efficient and effective management of industrial activities to curb emissions and their attendant diseases in the country.

Anyadiegwu, a chartered environmental specialist and a medical doctor by training, made the revelation in Uyo, Akwa  Ibom State on Thursday while fielding questions from journalists on the side-line of the GEF-UNIDO project specialised workshop for the Bank of Industry and other strategic stakeholders.

GEF-UNIDO Project is a collaborative Initiative between the Global Environmental Facility and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, which helps countries achieve global environmental benefits by reducing emissions, achieving climate resilience, and eliminating chemical waste.

Anyadiegwu, who was one of the resource persons at the event, lamented that life-threatening diseases such as kidney, liver, and deformities among babies are on the rise in Nigeria due to these dangerous emissions from factories in major Nigerian cities such as Port Harcourt, Kano,  Aba, Onitsha, and others.

He explained that the workshop aimed to achieve resource efficiency and cleaner production with industries in  Nigeria producing more with less and emitting less harmful and dangerous substances such as gases that cause climate change, which is already impacting society.

“We have seen floods all over the place, we have seen increasing desertification, we have seen new diseases, we have more cancers, endocrine diseases.

“Go to textile factories and see the amount of pesticides, go to Aba and you will see the level of fabrication go into the atmosphere, go to Port Harcourt and look at the oil industries, acid rain is a reality that we all see happening even in Uyo, here, so let us not deceive ourselves.

”These dangerous emissions get into our waterways and we do boreholes, fetch water for drinking and cooking. A lot of these ailments you see, like kidney, liver, and endocrine diseases, women not having children, and many are born with deformities, these are all realities that we know happen as a result of industrial emissions.

“So there is a need for industries to manage their activities to reduce emissions, that is what this resource  and production efficiency workshop is all about, ” Anyadiegwu said

He commended the federal government’s efforts in protecting the environment, emphasizing that much can still be done to improve the environment.

Highlighting the efforts being made by the United Nations International Development Organization to assist Nigeria improve on its industrial activities that impact the climate, Anyadiegwu called on organizations and industries to leverage the assistance by UNIDO and garner resources globally, regionally, and locally to fund projects that can enhance and improve on the environment.