‘Use more clean fuels to save lives’

IAP is the fourth leading risk factor contributing to the burden of disease in the country alongside other developing countries, they said adding that about 5 lakh people die premature and one million people become ill every year due to air pollution in the country.

They were speaking at a national seminar on 'Indoor Air Pollution, Health and Household Energy' jointly organised by World Health Organisation and Department of Public Health Engineering at IDB conference room in the city.

The major factor behind IAP is using biomass fuels like wood, dung and agricultural residues. The smoke from burning biomass fuels release 10 to 100 times more harmful particulate matter and noxious gases compared to clean fuels.

These fuels also have adverse health effects including acute respiratory infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, low birth weight babies and various cancers associated with tuberculosis and blindness, said Dr Andrew F Trevett, environmental health adviser of WHO.

"The most vulnerable people are women and young children who spend most of the time at home and in the kitchen," he said.

Dr Faruque Parvez of Columbia University in his study showed that the there is 8 to 10 times more particulate matters in the air of Dhaka than that of New York.

He said on an average 77 per cent people of the country use biomass as fuels while more than 98 per cent of them use biomass in the rural areas posing a great health risk in the country.

Md Taufiqul Arif, national programme officer of WHO, said the stoves women use produce heavy smoke and release a number of harmful pollutants, which combined with poor ventilation increases hazardous particles in the kitchens.

He identified better ventilation, replacement of traditional three-stone or shielded open-fire cooking with improved smokeless stoves and use of cleaner fuels as the most important interventions to reduce the risk factors.

Tusher MS Khan, executive engineer of DPHE Training Division, Habibur Rahman, Project Manager of Practical Action, Dr Mujibur Rahman, Assistant Professor of Community Medicine at NIPSOM, Tajul Islam, director of Directorate General and Health Services, Abdul Quader Chaudhury, additional engineer of DPHE, Mainul Huq of Development Policy Group, Dr Susan C Dol's of Columbia University also spoke at the seminar.