Cookstove Trials and Tribulations: What Is Needed to Decrease the Burden of Household Air Pollution?

Household air pollution arising from the combustion of dirty-burning fuels in and around the home for cooking and heating (e.g., wood, crop waste, dung, coal) is estimated by WHO to cause around 4 million premature deaths a year, mainly from cardiopulmonary diseases, making it one of the commonest underlying drivers of morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC).1 Although not included in the WHO estimates, the use of kerosene for lighting contributes additional morbidity and mortality.2 Although the latest Global Burden of Disease Study 2016 estimates a smaller number of deaths attributable to household air pollution – 2.5 million – it helpfully puts these risks in the context of other risk factors amongst which air pollution is very prominent.3