Air quality assessment is frequently driven by the need to determine whether a standard or guideline has been exceeded, but it should also provide the information needed to estimate population exposure to air pollution and the effects on the health of the population,WHO.
Nairobi City County Government ,The Clean Air Catalyst Program,The US Agency for International Development together with World Resources Institute  have launched two air quality monitoring sites in the city namely Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital and the Fire Station on Tom Mboya Street.
The official launch took place at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi. These monitoring sites will support Nairobi City County to better understand the temporal and spatial variations of pollutants from both waste burning and public transport.
The Nairobi pilot will focus on monitoring particulate matter, black carbon and weather parameters in the two sites.
Festus Ng’eno ,the Principal Secretary,state department for Environment and Climate Change applauded stakeholders involved in the initiative.
‘The national government will collaborate with the county government to ensure Nairobi is safe and clean in terms of air quality,’he said.
‘Air quality monitoring sites will provide accurate,real time data and they will serve as a foundation in which effective policies and interventions are made.’
‘Captured data will be better positioned to identify air pollution hotspots,track pollution trends and take swift actions to reduce harmful emissions.’
‘The Ministry of  Environment,Climate Change and Forestry is implementing the air quality regulations of 2014 through NEMA which recommends standards for stationary and mobile sources of emissions,’he added.
Njoroge Muchiri who serves as the deputy governor of Nairobi county stated that air quality in Nairobi is in bad state.
‘It is a collective responsibility to maintain quality of air that we breathe,’ he added.
Njoroge said that communication is core in informing the public to understand matters air quality.
‘Decongesting markets is part of a plan the county government of Nairobi is undertaking to reduce air pollution,’he said.
Mamo Boru Mamo, Director General of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) said that increase in population,traffic,construction works and deforestation contributes majorly to air pollution in Nairobi.
‘Air pollution situation in Nairobi is serious enough to warrant the setting up of a regular  air quality management system,’ he said.
‘Cities should have air quality management capability to generate and utilize appropriate air quality information within a coherent,administrative and legislative framework to enable rational management of air quality.’
Mamo said that absence of air pollution data creates an illusion that all is well thus contributing to concealment of a global health problem.
‘Motor vehicle emissions is a dorminant source of air pollutants especially in areas with high traffic.’
‘NEMA is going to gazette a vehicle emission testing in 2024 as an air quality regulation will be rolled out,’he added.
Dr. George Mwaniki,the head of Air Quality WRI in Africa said that in a couple of months  Nairobi will have more air quality monitors to collect data.
‘As WRI we shall continue working with the government and the city to see how to reduce emissions from the waste management sector and the transport sector,’ he added.
‘The end goal for the project is to see a reduction in air pollution by 2030,with the monitoring station we will track the progress.’
According to Dr. Martin Wafula,the Chief Executive Officer at Mama Lucy Hospital, diseases related to the upper respiratory tract infection are highly reported.
‘Averagely 3000 patients report at our health facility on a daily basis with cases of the upper respiratory tract,’he added.
‘We have observed a lot of respiratory distress among children, reasons being the quality of air they breathe.’
‘Having the air quality monitors will help track these diseases and their sources,’he said.
Dorcas Kemunto,a board chairperson at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital appreciated the fact that the health facility was identified for the implementation of air monitoring.
‘Air quality is a factor of public health that directly impacts respiratory conditions and the overral health of individuals,’she said.
Nairobi County Executive Committee Member,Maureen Njeri said that the launch of the air quality monitoring sites was a bold step towards realizing objectives of protecting the air and acting swiftly on collected data.
‘We all need data to be able to respond and be strategic in terms of our interventions,’ she said.
‘This moment reflects our commitment to the vision and goal set out in the Nairobi city county air quality act of 2022.’