Assessing Household Solid Fuel Use: Multiple Implications for the Millennium Development Goals Eva Rehfuess,1 Sumi Mehta,2 and Annette Prüss-Üstün1 1Department of Protection of the Human Environment, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland; 2Health Effects Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA Abstract Objective: The World Health Organization is the agency responsible for reporting the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) indicator "percentage of population using solid fuels." In this article, we present the results of a comprehensive assessment of solid fuel use, conducted in 2005, and discuss the implications of our findings in the context of achieving the MDGs. Methods: For 93 countries, solid fuel use data were compiled from recent national censuses or household surveys. For the 36 countries where no data were available, the indicator was modeled. For 52 upper-middle or high-income countries, the indicator was assumed to be < 5%. Results: According to our assessment, 52% of the world's population uses solid fuels. This percentage varies widely between countries and regions, ranging from 77%, 74%, and 74% in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific Region, respectively, to 36% in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, 16% in Latin America and the Caribbean and in Central and Eastern Europe. In most industrialized countries, solid fuel use falls to the < 5% mark. Discussion: Although the "percentage of population using solid fuels" is classified as an indicator to measure progress towards MDG 7, reliance on traditional household energy practices has distinct implications for most of the MDGs, notably MDGs 4 and 5. There is an urgent need for development agendas to recognize the fundamental role that household energy plays in improving child and maternal health and fostering economic and social development. Key words: child health, environment, indoor air pollution, maternal health, Millennium Development Goals, poverty, solid fuels. Environ Health Perspect 114: 373-378 (2006) . doi:10.1289/ehp.8603 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 26 January 2006] Address correspondence to E. Rehfuess, Department of Protection of the Human Environment, World Health Organization, 1211 Geneva 27, Switzerland. Telephone: +41 22 791 4979. Fax: +41 22 791 1383. E-mail. rehfuesse@who.int We thank F. Gore (WHO) and D. Barnes (World Bank) for their essential contributions to compiling the most up-to-date data on solid fuel use. We also thank S. Chatterji and N. Naidoo (WHO) , who provided us with preliminary World Health Survey data and assistance in analyzing them, and L. Tzala (Imperial College London) for her analysis of the World Health Survey solid fuel use data. We are grateful to them and to C. Corvalan (WHO) for comments on the draft article. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the World Health Organization or the Health Effects Institute. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 23 August 2005 ; accepted 26 January 2006. The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |