Piloting Survey Questions on Household Energy
Importance of national surveys
National household surveys are an essential tool to monitor household energy use and its impacts on health. They also provide data around the gender dynamics of household energy use which can be used to design and implement gender-responsive household energy policies and programmes.
Currently, the prevailing focus of most surveys is on measuring the main fuel used for cooking, frequently in a dichotomous manner (i.e. solid fuel use vs. nonsolid fuel use). Relatively few national surveys capture information on other major sources of household air pollution like the fuels and technologies for heating and lighting and/or supplement the primary cooking solution. All of which play an important role in the health and wellbeing of household members, particularly women and children.
Need for improved and consistent household surveys
In light of the Sustainable Development goals, the ongoing work of several global initiatives and to support the implementation of the WHO guidelines for indoor air quality, the WHO has been leading a cooperative effort with surveying agencies, country statistical offices and other stakeholders (e.g. Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, World Bank) to enhance, refine and harmonize survey questions to better assess the health impacts from household energy use for cooking, heating and lighting.
As part of this process, WHO is currently asking institutions and partners working in the field to pilot a new set of survey instruments and provide relevant feedback on their data collection experiences. WHO asks anyone willing and interested to pilot these questions to please complete the following questionnaire. After reviewing the responses, WHO will send the pilot questions.
For any questions, please contact Ms. Heather Adair-Rohani (adairrohanih@who.int).