Smoke: The Killer in the Kitchen
Every day over 4000 men, women and children in the world's poorest countries die as a result of lethal levels of smoke from indoor cooking fires. Poverty condemns half of the world's population to use wood, dung, charcoal and coal for cooking and heating their homes. The smoke produced from cooking fires causes the deaths of 1.5 million people every year; a life lost every 20 seconds, and a greater killer than malaria. Women and children are particularly vulnerable, as they spend between 3 and 7 hours by the fire, often inhaling smoke over 100 times above the accept safety levels.
Illnesses caused by smoke include chronic bronchitis, acute lower respiratory infections such as pneumonia and lung cancer. There is also increasing evidence linking it to asthma, TB and low birth weight. The international community has acted to combat other major threats to health in poor countries such as unsafe water and sanitation or unsafe sex. Yet smoke, the killer in the kitchen, has been largely ignored.
Practical Action is calling for the British Government to do more to address this neglected killer by showing leadership in the international community and calling for the introduction of a UN-led Global Action Plan to address indoor air pollution.