Clean cook stoves

A recent study reports how indoor air pollution from cooking on open fires varies by season in Pakistan

Pakistan has one of the highest childhood mortality ratesin the world, and pneumonia is the primary cause of these death. A major contributor to pneumonia amongst children in the country is our indoor air pollution problem. Like many other developing countries, a major proportion of households across Pakistan still rely on biomass fuel (including wood, charcoal, crop residues and animal dung) for the purposes of cooking, heating and even lighting homes.

Biomass is mostly burned on open fires or using inefficient stoves, which leads to incomplete combustion and high levels of indoor concentration of hazardous smoke ininadequately ventilated homes. The World Health Organisation has estimated that the number of deaths from indoor air pollution to be around four million globally, which is an alarming situation. Health complications resulting from indoor air pollution caused by biofuel burning is now among the three biggest killers worldwide, after tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Moreover, this problem disproportionately affects women and young children. Infact, children below the age of five account for more than half of the deaths caused by indoor solid-fuel burning.

There is a dearth of scientific assessments in Pakistan concerning this phenomenon and it is not recognised as an environmental hazard at the policy level either. A recent study has pointed out how indoor air pollution from cooking on open fires varies by season in Pakistan. Indoor air quality apparently improves during the summer months when trade stoves are moved outside, this improvement is accompanied by an increase in the background level of particulate matter in the outside air.

Air pollution from use of biogas energy is a major environmental problem at a global level given that nearlyhalf the people in this world still have to rely on biomass energy for cooking and heating their homes. The need for environmentally sustainable energy alternatives for safe cooking and heating purposes remains vital. However, till such alternative forms of energy can be provided to all the people who are still using biofuels, there are other steps which can be taken to help reduce the amount of smoke and the consequent pollution and health related consequences of this phenomenon.

The type of stoves used and how well ventilated a kitchen are important factors for indoor air-pollution levels.Households which have little choice but to use biofuels can therefore attempt to reduce their exposure to smoke from cooking by using different stove layouts or including windows and doors in their kitchens. In this regard, the need for awareness of the risks of indoor air pollution need to be highlighted through community-based interventionsand through use of widely accessible media campaigns.

There are civil society interventions such as Global Alliance for Clean Cook-stoves which are doing needed work on this issue. This alliance aims to promote the adoption of clean cooking stoves and fuels by 100 million households by 2020. Government of countries like our own as well as major international donors need to provide the needed policy emphasis and allocate necessary resources to help address this problem, which is exacerbating air pollution and the resulting problems related to global warming. Indoor air pollution is also taking a direct toll on the health of already vulnerable families, which have no choice but to use biofuel to meet their basic household needs.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 23^rd, 2016.

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