Image optimize LCP
  • Add description, images, menus and links to your mega menu

  • A column with no settings can be used as a spacer

  • Link to your collections, sales and even external links

  • Add up to five columns

  • Lillian Njuu, pictured here, says she’s willing to [pay for a clean cookstove because of the health benefits for her family](http://www.ghfn.org/3-stories_videos-individual/cooking-not-killing)

    Do you know the leading cause of death in children worldwide? It kills an estimated 1.4 million children under 5 each year—more than malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS combined. Many will be surprised to learn that the answer is [pneumonia](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs331/en/index.html), an acute lung infection that can be treated with antibiotics and prevented with immunization, adequate nutrition and simple environmental interventions.

    Although preventable and easily treatable, only 30% of children afflicted with pneumonia receive the antibiotics they need. For this reason, health advocates are working to prevent the onset of pneumonia by reducing [indoor air pollution](http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs292/en/). That’s because nearly 50% of child pneumonia deaths are caused by inhaling smoke from indoor cook stoves. Figures on the percent of child deaths that are infants are not readily accessible. However a study in Ecuador showed that [infants had double the mortality rates if their families used biomass fuels.](http://www.tractionproject.org/sites/default/files/upload/Reports/IAP%20Landscape%20Analysis%20Report.pdf) and other studies cited by the TRACTION project have shown a connection between indoor air pollution and poor pregnancy outcomes and low birth weight.

    The [Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves](http://cleancookstoves.org/) is leading this effort. Worldwide, approximately 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using open fires or leaky stoves that burn solid fuels, which release health-damaging gases and particles during combustion. The Alliance focuses on redesigning stoves, identifying cleaner fuels, improving ventilation in homes, and changing simple behaviors, such as keeping children away from smoky areas.

    Clean, more efficient [cookstoves](http://cleancookstoves.org/overview/what-is-a-clean-cookstove/) will not only help prevent pneumonia and other respiratory ailments, but will also decrease the time mothers and children must spend collecting biomass (wood, animal dung and crop waste) as fuel. Additionally, they will help protect fragile natural resources and avoid the emission of greenhouse gases. Moreover, clean cookstoves can provide [economic opportunity](http://www.ghfn.org/3-stories_videos-individual/cooking-not-killing) when manufactured at the local level. The impact of this simple intervention is far-reaching.

    However, until uptake of cleaner-burning stoves increases, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) has ramped up its [immunization campaign](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2011/11/global-vaccine-campaign-for-top-baby-killer-unprecedented.html). In 2010, GAVI helped negotiate a 90 percent price reduction from vaccine manufacturers. This deal has brought the cost down to $3.50 a dose, assisting low-income countries to afford and distribute the vaccine.

    Leave a comment

    Comments will be approved before showing up.


    Also in The Maternova Blog

    Expansion of the Pratt Pouch to Four Maternity Hospitals in Ecuador and to Peru
    Expansion of the Pratt Pouch to Four Maternity Hospitals in Ecuador and to Peru

    June 09, 2025 5 min read

    The Pratt pouches are practical, easy to store, properly labeled, and contain accurate doses tailored to each newborn’s weight. This reduces the likelihood of dosing errors and enhances treatment adherence. In addition, newborns have shown good tolerance to the medication in this format.

    Read More
    Reviewing the Studies on the Pratt Pouch Implementation in Africa Thus Far
    Reviewing the Studies on the Pratt Pouch Implementation in Africa Thus Far

    May 05, 2025 2 min read

    The Pratt Pouch was found to be very cost-effective in the context of Uganda, a country where PMTCT is a serious issue to prevent transmission of HIV from mother to child. 

    Read More
    A technological 'ChARM' to help diagnose pneumonia in the community
    A technological 'ChARM' to help diagnose pneumonia in the community

    March 30, 2025 2 min read

    Respiratory Rate measurement is critical to WHO IMCI guidelines and determination of childhood pneumonia. The ChARM is an innovation that automates this crucial process.

    Read More