There are over 2.4 million environment health related deaths in Africa each year, researchers from across 13 European and African countries have said. The scientists, under the Quantifying Weather and Climate Impacts (QWECI), had gathered in Kigali on Saturday for a symposium on the reduction of death as a result of avoidable diseases in Africa.The climate and vector-borne diseases symposium was aimed at understanding the relationships between health and environment and, in particular, links between climate and vector-borne diseases in Africa.The symposium, according to some of the researchers and scientists who talked to The New Times, also discussed the possibility of curtailing the spread of three water related vector-borne diseases including malaria in five countries namely Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.Jean Pierre Bizimana, a university lecturer who carried out his research in Kigali City on serology, found that malaria is dominant due to settlement in the vicinity of wetlands and flood-prone areas such as Nyabugogo and Nyabarongo rivers. Serology is the scientific study of plasma serum and other bodily fluidsProfessor Andrew Morse, Coordinator of QWECI, said more research is needed to forecast over some diseases in Africa.
