Cooking Smoke Deadly Threat in Developing World
“Cooking a hot meal is one the most basic, instinctive, nurturing ways to feed the body and soul of a loved one. Yet for nearly 3 billion people in the developing world with inefficient and rudimentary stoves, it yields an unsavory outcome.”
Approximately 1.9 million people – mostly women and children – die prematurely each year because of exposure to and respiratory complications from poorly ventilated cooking smoke.”
According to the World Health Organization, that makes indoor air pollution from biomass and coal stoves the fifth largest health threat to the developing world.”
“What you often find is the mother’s intentions are so positive. She’s collected the wood, she’s built a fire, she’s cooked food to nourish the kids, but the impact and effect can be the exact opposite of nourishment,” says Radha Muthiah, the Executive Director of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.”