Half the world's population relies on elemental stoves for cooking or heating. Those using cookstoves usually burn dung, wood, soft coal or rice husks, all of which produce toxic carbon emissions. The resulting indoor air pollution (IAP) is estimated to take 1.9 million lives each year due to increased risks of acute pneumonia in children under five, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and lung cancer in women.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has committed about $25 million over the next five years to reducing this impact, and improving the health of those who rely on cookstoves. NIH is participating in the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a new public-private partnership led by the United Nations Foundation to improve livelihoods, empower women and children, and combat climate change by creating a sustainable market for clean and efficient cooking stoves and fuels. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the initiative at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York in 2010.
Related News
- NIH holds cookstove research training workshop - Fogarty Global Health Matters newsletter, November/December 2012
- Event: Celebrating two years of accomplishments - Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, September 24, 2012
- Wood stove intervention can reduce childhood pneumonia - NIH News, November 14, 2011
- Inefficient developing world stoves contribute to 2 million deaths a year - NIH News, October 14, 2011
- A Major Environmental Cause of Death - Science Policy Forum, October 14, 2011
- Curbing Cooking Smoke That Kills More People Than Malaria - The Salt, NPR's Food Blog, October 18, 2011
- 2 Million Deaths a Year Attributed to Pollution from Indoor Cookstove Fires - PBS NewsHour, October 13, 2011
- To push clean cookstoves, involve the cooks, report says - Reuters, October 13, 2011
Read below how institutes, centers and offices at NIH are engaged in this effort.
- Fogarty International Center (FIC) has continued to support research training programs to increase human capacity in low- and middle-income countries in this field on the topic of indoor air pollution through programs such as the International Training and Research In Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH).
- National Cancer Institute (NCI) is investigating the connection between air pollution and lung cancer in China, and is also studying the impact of chimney installation on lung cancer and COPD.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is funding epidemiology studies on cookstove-related effects on pulmonary and cardiac diseases, including hypertension, atherothrombosis, asthma, chronic lung diseases, and co-contaminant effects, as well as funding work on instrumentation and measurement device technology.
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is investing in epidemiology studies and clinical trials on the relationship between indoor air pollution and low-birth weight and child pneumonia, with at least one site in India.
- National Institute of Environmental Health Studies (NIEHS) is supporting new and ongoing studies evaluating effectiveness of interventions in Guatemala, India, Nepal, the Gambia, and other countries. NIEHS is also evaluating an expanded array of health endpoints including children’s neurobehavioral development, and developing and evaluating innovative technologies for monitoring cookstove use and human exposures.
- Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is interested in studying the most effective ways to introduce and educate users on safety and proper use of cookstoves
- Office of Research of Women’s Health (ORWH) would like to support research on the impact of cookstoves on women’s health and safety.
NIH IAP and Cookstove News and Related Resources
NIH IAP Health Impacts - Related Resources