Addressing the Impact of Household Energy and Indoor Air Pollution on the Health of the Poor: Implications for Policy Action and Intervention Measures
More than 2 billion of the world’s poorest people still rely on biomass and coal-burning for
household energy needs such as cooking and heating, putting women and children at
increased risk of diseases such as pneumonia, chronic respiratory disease and lung cancer
(coal only), which is estimated to account for a substantial proportion of the global burden of
disease in developing countries. Intervention measures to reduce the impact of IAP include
changes to the source, living environment and user behaviour, and can be delivered through
policies operating at national and local level. IAP interventions perform favourably in terms
of cost-effectiveness, with, for example, an improved stove programme costing
US$ 50-100 per DALY saved. Although evidence on health effects and on cost-effectiveness
is still in need of strengthening, concerted global action on this major preventable public
health hazard impacting predominantly on the poor is long overdue. It is time to act.
