Investigation of the effectiveness of national clean cookstoves program in Nepal in reducing Acute Respiratory Tract Infection in ≤ 5children

Acute respiratory infections (ARI), which include: acute upper respiratory tract infection (AURI) and
acute lower respiratory tract infection (ALRI—including bronchitis, pneumonia and bronchopneumonia) are
the major causes of morbidity and mortality among ≤5 children in developing countries.In Nepal, the Ministry
of Health and Population (MoHP) have recognized ARI including ALRI as one of the major public health
problems among ≤5 children. MoHP has given due importance to improve medical case management
strategies to lower the incidence of ARI and ALRI. With the support from USAID, MoHP has initiated a CBIMCI program. One of the main objectives of CB-IMCI program is to diagnose disease early and treat with antibiotics at the health facility.The higher proportion of population (households) in the study area (Kavre district) use three major stoves conditions of interest: biogas+liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Improved Cookstoves (ICS)–with chimney, traditional biomass–without chimney, and kerosene stove. Therefore, this study will allow us to do consistent comparisons of impacts of wide range of clean and polluting stove technologies on occurrences of ARI and ALRI in ≤5 children. Similarly, This project believe that the work proposed under this request has the potential to assess the effectiveness of national cookstove programs in reducing household smoke and ARI and ALRI burden in Nepal. The results of this study will be important not only in Nepal but also in other developing countries where government (or international development organization) is planning to scale up national clean cookstove programs.

Supporting Agency: PEER Health Program, NIH/ USAID

images