Awareness campaign to improve Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices relating to air pollution and its health impact: the case of “Air sain” campaign in Medina (Senegal)

Abstract

<title>Abstract</title> Air pollution is the underlying cause of 7 million premature deaths per year. In Dakar (Senegal), monitoring of air pollution indicators often reveals levels well above the guideline values. This context justified an awareness campaign called “<italic>Air Sain</italic>” in Medina (Dakar) to improve the Knowledges, Attitudes and Practices relating to air pollution and its health impact. This study aimed to assess the impact of this campaign in order to produce factual data that could motivate its replicability in other localities. It is a <italic>before-after study</italic>, which compared a baseline situation of KAPs to “<italic>Air sain</italic>” post-campaign situation. It was measured after <italic>Propensity Scores Matching</italic> by logistic regression, using <italic>R</italic> software. The only results pointing in the direction of an improvement concern the knowledge of health risks related to air pollution: the <italic>Odds Ratio</italic> and its <italic>95% Confidence Interval</italic> are in favor of “<italic>Air sain</italic>” campaign and estimated at 3.31 [1.4–8.34]. As regards to the results, the campaign could be extended to other localities for a better awareness of the health risks related to air pollution. However, it is necessary to adapt the messages conveyed on polluting practices and air degradation factors in order to obtain better results.