SEAR/PR/1589
New Delhi : WHO convened a meeting of representatives of Member States to target the implementation of the new Guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion, at a Regional workshop on air quality and human health in New Delhi today. Over 60% of homes in WHO South-East Asia Region still use solid fuel for cooking. In India, this amounts to some 700 million people.
“We must act to protect people from air pollution. The poor, living near busy roads or industrial sites, are disproportionately affected by air pollution. Women and children pay the heaviest price, as they spend more time at home breathing in smoke and soot from cooking stoves. Half the deaths due to pneumonia in children aged less than five years can be attributed to household air pollution making it a leading risk factor for childhood deaths, said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia.
Exposure to air pollutants, especially fine particulate matter, is a leading risk factor for noncommunicable disease in adults, causing ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic pulmonary disease and lung cancer, making air pollution the main avoidable environmental cause of disease and premature death globally. Four million deaths each year have been attributable to exposure to household (or indoor) air pollution and a further 3.7 million deaths per year have been attributable to ambient (or outdoor) air pollution. Approximately 40% of the deaths from indoor air pollution and 25% of those attributed to outdoor air pollution occur in the eleven countries of WHO South-East Asia Region.
Rapidly urbanizing and industrializing countries in South-East Asia are susceptible to high-levels of air pollution and trends in air pollution in many cities show deteriorating levels of ambient air quality.
Building upon the accumulated scientific evidence available, the Guidelines for indoor air quality: household fuel combustion are designed to provide countries and implementing partners with practical information on the performance and characteristics of household combustion technologies and fuels, so that they can transition to modern household energy sources as quickly and equitably as feasible.
Considerable improvements have been made in air quality in several regions of the world over the past decades. Much evidence and best practices exist about cleaning up air, and the policies needed to achieve this clean-up. A multisectoral approach is needed at all levels to bring about improvements. At the national level this is particularly important, so that ministries of health are actively engaged with the ministries of environment, urban development, transport, energy and natural resources. “The ministries of health must play a stronger role in communicating the health impacts of air pollution and advocate for policies by other sectors that offer the most health benefits,” added Dr Khetrapal Singh.
Member States of South-East Asia Region have shown their commitment to reduce household air pollution as part of the Regional Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases 2013–2020. This plan advocates for a transition to cleaner stove technologies and fuels, including liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), bio-gas, solar coolers, electricity and low-fume fuels such as methanol and ethanol. Member States now need to develop national databases on household fuel use and emissions and design programmes aimed at encouraging the use of improved cooking stoves, fuels and good cooking practices.
“I would like to underscore WHO’s strong commitment to a “whole of society” approach to improve air pollution. This would involve Governments, media, civil society, nongovernmental organizations, academia, partners, development agencies and the UN” said Dr Khetrapal Singh.
Representatives from Member States, the Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves, Clean Air Asia and US Centers for Disease Surveillance and Prevention are among the participants at the two day workshop.
What: WHO Regional Workshop on Air Quality and Health
Where: Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi
When: 11–12 December 2014
WHO’s South-East Asia Region comprises the following 11 Member States: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Timor-Leste.