More than half the world’s population uses open fires or stoves for cooking and heating, breathing in lethal fumes inside their homes on a daily basis.
This causes 1.5 million premature deaths each year, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) calculations. In developing countries, this makes Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) the most lethal killer after malaria, unsafe sex and lack of clean water or sanitation – yet, in comparison, this issue has a very low profile.
For the foreseeable future billions of people will continue to use wood, cowdung and crop leftovers as their main fuel. Therefore it is essential that efforts to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution be directed at the reality people face now. Smoke will continue to be produced, so it needs to be removed from the house.
Simple measures such as using stoves that emit less smoke or use cleaner fuels could have a dramatic effect on reducing IAP. The Shell Foundation ‘My Kitchen, My Pride’ campaign which was rolled out in October 2008 in Karnataka sought to instil small changes that make a big difference: Keeping children away from smoke, using a stove that emits less smoke, using dried firewood, installing a chimney or ventilator, and keeping open the windows in the kitchen.
The message was captured through a protagonist, Khidki Amma, literally "the lady at the Window" who nosed around village houses and discovered the benefits of keeping windows open and using improved cooking stoves.
Improving Ventilation works wonders
According to Chattopadyay Aparajita, Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar in their study “Burden Of Disease In Rural India: An Analysis Through Cause Of Death. The Internet Journal of Third World Medicine. 2005”, “Trend shows 'Coughs' is major cause of death in almost all the states in general; especially in UP and Rajasthan accounting one-third of deaths with no change over a period of time. Bronchitis and asthma maintained top rank over the two decades accounting more than 8% of total rural deaths in India followed by TB of the lungs accounting 6.1% deaths, its rank been dropped slightly in the following decade. Asthma-bronchitis, TB of the lung and pneumonia are accounting heavy toll among the communicable diseases.”
“About one-third of rural population use wood as fuel for cooking and coupled with poor ventilation and bad-housing conditions may be the cause for prevalence of asthma- bronchitis. TB prevalence is 130.8 per 100,000 in India as one of the major killers in rural India, while the world average is only 59.7. A large scale analysis from National Family Health Survey health in 1992-93 clearly shows that more than half of the women age 30 years and older suffer with risk of active tuberculosis. This may be attributable to bad cooking sources and household smokes and suggests that the use of biomass fuels for cooking substantially increases the risk of tuberculosis in India.”
Studies have suggested that the location and ventilation of the kitchen, permeability of roofs and walls and use of improved cook stoves significantly affect smoke exposure. Studies also suggest that the gains from reducing air pollution within the household can be quite large.
First, the reduction of air pollution within the household has the potential to have a direct effect on respiratory—and even general—health. Second, if household tends to be in better health due to the stoves, they can save much in medical expenditures, which tends to be a large portion of expenditures among the very poor. Third, if household members are in better health, there is a potential for the household to be more productive.
Substantial reductions to smoke exposure have been obtained with relatively simple methods. For example, an ITDG Practical Action project in Kenya reduced particulate and carbon monoxide pollution in homes by nearly 80% through the use of smoke hoods and improved ventilation in the home. Increasing the amount of ventilation involves installing a window or cutting eaves spaces into the wall at roof height.
Further, improved stoves have also been shown to reduce fuel use by about 40% compared with traditional open brick ovens. Households that have used them state that the kitchens are cleaner, children are safer from accidents and there is a considerable saving in the use of fuel wood.
This causes 1.5 million premature deaths each year, according to World Health Organisation (WHO) calculations. In developing countries, this makes Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) the most lethal killer after malaria, unsafe sex and lack of clean water or sanitation – yet, in comparison, this issue has a very low profile.
For the foreseeable future billions of people will continue to use wood, cowdung and crop leftovers as their main fuel. Therefore it is essential that efforts to reduce exposure to indoor air pollution be directed at the reality people face now. Smoke will continue to be produced, so it needs to be removed from the house.
Simple measures such as using stoves that emit less smoke or use cleaner fuels could have a dramatic effect on reducing IAP. The Shell Foundation ‘My Kitchen, My Pride’ campaign which was rolled out in October 2008 in Karnataka sought to instil small changes that make a big difference: Keeping children away from smoke, using a stove that emits less smoke, using dried firewood, installing a chimney or ventilator, and keeping open the windows in the kitchen.
The message was captured through a protagonist, Khidki Amma, literally "the lady at the Window" who nosed around village houses and discovered the benefits of keeping windows open and using improved cooking stoves.
Improving Ventilation works wonders
According to Chattopadyay Aparajita, Agnihotram V. Ramanakumar in their study “Burden Of Disease In Rural India: An Analysis Through Cause Of Death. The Internet Journal of Third World Medicine. 2005”, “Trend shows 'Coughs' is major cause of death in almost all the states in general; especially in UP and Rajasthan accounting one-third of deaths with no change over a period of time. Bronchitis and asthma maintained top rank over the two decades accounting more than 8% of total rural deaths in India followed by TB of the lungs accounting 6.1% deaths, its rank been dropped slightly in the following decade. Asthma-bronchitis, TB of the lung and pneumonia are accounting heavy toll among the communicable diseases.”
“About one-third of rural population use wood as fuel for cooking and coupled with poor ventilation and bad-housing conditions may be the cause for prevalence of asthma- bronchitis. TB prevalence is 130.8 per 100,000 in India as one of the major killers in rural India, while the world average is only 59.7. A large scale analysis from National Family Health Survey health in 1992-93 clearly shows that more than half of the women age 30 years and older suffer with risk of active tuberculosis. This may be attributable to bad cooking sources and household smokes and suggests that the use of biomass fuels for cooking substantially increases the risk of tuberculosis in India.”
Studies have suggested that the location and ventilation of the kitchen, permeability of roofs and walls and use of improved cook stoves significantly affect smoke exposure. Studies also suggest that the gains from reducing air pollution within the household can be quite large.
First, the reduction of air pollution within the household has the potential to have a direct effect on respiratory—and even general—health. Second, if household tends to be in better health due to the stoves, they can save much in medical expenditures, which tends to be a large portion of expenditures among the very poor. Third, if household members are in better health, there is a potential for the household to be more productive.
Substantial reductions to smoke exposure have been obtained with relatively simple methods. For example, an ITDG Practical Action project in Kenya reduced particulate and carbon monoxide pollution in homes by nearly 80% through the use of smoke hoods and improved ventilation in the home. Increasing the amount of ventilation involves installing a window or cutting eaves spaces into the wall at roof height.
Further, improved stoves have also been shown to reduce fuel use by about 40% compared with traditional open brick ovens. Households that have used them state that the kitchens are cleaner, children are safer from accidents and there is a considerable saving in the use of fuel wood.
