Cookstoves and Non-Communicable Diseases: The Impact of Non-Communicable Diseases, Sept. 2011. Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.
Household air pollution (HAP) caused by smoke from cooking and heating with solid fuels is the most widespread risk factor for NCDs in the developing world, impacting nearly 100 percent of the poorest 3 billion people. Moreover, despite the fact that millions of people in developing countries are moving out of poverty and into the middle class, continued population growth results in more people being exposed to HAP today than in any previous period of human history.
The link between HAP and NCDs is well established. HAP causes lung cancer and chronic lung disease, and is the leading risk factor for these diseases among non-smoking women in developing countries. HAP increases the risk of delivering low birth-weight babies, who are then at increased risk of developing NCDs later in their lives.
Emerging evidence suggests that HAP may also cause cardiovascular disease, cancers of the digestive system, and cervical cancer. Therefore, widespread adoption of clean cookstoves among the poor in developing countries is essential in preventing NCDs caused by HAP.
