Reducing indoor air pollution in Bangladesh

Poor households in Bangladesh rely heavily on wood, dung and other biomass fuels for cooking. This practice exposes inhabitants to smoke which  when inhaled can severely damage their health. Indoor air pollution is estimated to account for 8 per cent of the total burden of disease in the country. To address this challenge the Government of Bangladesh, with support of the World Bank, is preparing the Bangladesh Indoor Air Pollution Pilot that will use a community-led approach to address the problems associated with conventional cooking practices and their direct health risks. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will implement this pilot initiative.

Recognition of the health impacts of Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is growing worldwide. Inhaling smoke from burning biomass can have both temporary and permanent consequences for health.  Globally it is estimated that about 60 per cent  of deaths caused by air pollution are among children under five as a result of exposure to smoke from dirty cooking fuels. According to a soon to be published World Bank Study titled: Bangladesh Country Environmental Analysis, indoor air pollution is one of the leading causes of infant deaths in Bangladesh. Indoor air pollution is thus an environmental health priority, which needs to be addressed for the country to reach the health-related Millennium Development Goals.

In its first phase the Bangladesh Indoor Air Pollution Reduction Pilot will assess ongoing successful programs, including the Total Sanitation Campaign, to determine the best collaboration partners and methods. It will also develop tools for community participation and surveillance; and analyze available technical options to tackle indoor air pollution. It is expected that the second phase, involving the implementation of pilot projects in chosen villages, will begin in late 2007.

Contacts:

Rezwan Alam; Tel: 8159001, ext 4242; E-mail: salam3@worldbank.org
For more information on the World Bank in Bangladesh, please visit:
www.worldbank.org.bd & www.worldbank.org