School of Public Service and Governance, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Accra, Ghana.
School of Liberal & Social Sciences, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration Accra, Ghana.
Biomed Res Int. 2020 Dec 9;2020:7804692. doi: 10.1155/2020/7804692. eCollection 2020.
Global warming is a serious threat to human existence. The relatively higher level of global warming in recent times poses higher health risks to humans, both directly and indirectly. The aim of the study was to investigate public knowledge of global warming and its effects on human health. A nationally representative survey of Ghanaian adults ( = 1130) was conducted from November 1, 2018 to February 28, 2019. Results show that 84.4% of the respondents understood the meaning of global warming. Respondents' perceived causes of global warming include natural processes, deforestation, act of the gods, burning of fossil fuel, and carbon dioxide (CO emission from vehicles and industries. The majority of the respondents (83.4%) indicated that global warming has an impact on human health, while 8.5% indicated that it does not. Majority (78.6%) of the respondents are willing to support efforts to reduce the intensity of global warming. Television (19.1%) and social media (18.6%) were the leading preferred methods for receipt of global warming information. These findings provide useful insights for policy directions. The Government of Ghana and other stakeholders in health should develop a communication strategy to increase and sustain publicity and education of the citizenry on global warming.
全球变暖对人类生存构成了严重威胁。最近全球变暖水平相对较高，直接和间接给人类健康带来了更高的风险。本研究旨在调查公众对全球变暖及其对人类健康影响的认识。我们于 2018 年 11 月 1 日至 2019 年 2 月 28 日对加纳成年人进行了一项全国代表性调查（n=1130）。结果表明，84.4%的受访者理解全球变暖的含义。受访者认为全球变暖的原因包括自然过程、森林砍伐、神的行为、燃烧化石燃料和汽车及工业产生的二氧化碳（CO2）排放。大多数受访者（83.4%）表示全球变暖会对人类健康产生影响，而 8.5%的受访者表示不会。大多数（78.6%）受访者愿意支持减少全球变暖强度的努力。电视（19.1%）和社交媒体（18.6%）是受访者获取全球变暖信息的首选方式。这些发现为制定政策方向提供了有用的见解。加纳政府和其他卫生利益攸关方应制定一项传播战略，以提高和维持对民众的全球变暖宣传和教育。
