With World Pneumonia Day having just passed, the topic of clean cookstoves resurfaced. The conversation about clean cookstoves revolves around their hazardous and life threatening affect on women and children, producing indoor air pollution. But they create another hazardous and life threatening situation for women and children, which is much less talked about, burns.
Most of the deaths and deformities caused by burns in low and middle-income countries are suffered by women and children and are related to the nature of domestic appliances used for cooking and heating their homes, namely, their cookstoves. The typical traditional stove is a 3 stone cooking fire, where 3 stones of similar size are used to prop up a pot and a fire is made underneath. Most cooking is done inside the home, in cramped, enclosed environments, leaving women and children vulnerable to the open flames. Women tend to wear long, traditional skirts and can easily have their clothing catch on fire if they get too close to the flames. It also makes it easy for the children to inadvertently fall into or step into the open fire. In addition, young children can easily get hold of the pot cooking on top of the stove and topple it over onto them, scalding them.
Ninety-five percent of burns occur in low and middle-income countries and fire related deaths rank among the 15 leading causes of death among 5-29 year olds, according to the World Health Organization. They are the 4th leading cause of trauma worldwide, following traffic accidents, falls and interpersonal violence. Burns also cause lifelong disabilities and deformities which not only can lead to stigma and rejection in a community, but also the inability to perform day to day tasks in order to survive.
Yet, in the discussion of introducing new cookstove technology, burns are rarely, if ever mentioned. If you look through the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves’ website, or look through transcripts of talks given by Hillary Clinton or Julia Roberts, who are both clean cookstove advocates, they do not once mention that introducing new cooking technology as a way to reduce burn injuries and deaths, the only thing that is talked about it reducing indoor air pollution.
There is quite a bit on support and advocacy for burn victims in developed countries (who usually have sustained these burns in ways other than cooking) but if you try to find out more about the attention burns is getting internationally, you will find a few rudimentary websites with little information on them, such as the International Society for Burn Injuries or the African Burn Society. So where is the burn victim champion in all of this talk about clean cookstoves?
Maybe we should change the campaign to providing SAFE cookstoves rather than clean cookstoves, and start talking about the many hazards that currently used cookstoves are causing.
Dr Tinashe Maduke
/ November 20, 2011Thank you for your comment on the lack of concern for the impact cookstoves have on young children and women through burns. I grew up in a rural farming community and till today we have no electricty at my house and we use firewood for cooking. The hut we use as a kitchen is now less smoky because we built a chimney to replace the central fire. However several of our neighbours still use central fires as they provide more warmth in the room and well that’s always been the traditional arrangement for people to gather round the fire. As a doctor in sub-saharan Africa were in both rural and urban communities fire is the critical energy source for cooking mostly and lighting, i have seen hundreds of burns victims. During my days as a medical student i would often be so upset at parents and guardians at what i thought was ‘gross negligence’. I would take the histories and be so ready to blast them for their ‘irresponsible/negligent behaviour’. On occasion I would tell a few of them a piece of my mind when i saw for example a 2month old girl’s face all burnt up and that meant that there were diminished chances of her being married. But as I saw more and more of these burns even from the same communities i realized the lesson would never be learnt. As each mother visits another mother to encourage them as they cared for their burnt child, weeks after their own children get burnt. The reality is as long as people have no alternative source of energy, then these burns will continue. It doesn’t matter how much we scream about it, people need alternative sources of energy. I guess part of the reason burns are not talked about as much in middle and low income communities is people don’t know how to or want to tackle that big issue of alternative energy sources. It boils down to poverty, the big monster everyone avoids dealing with. So I strongly agree with your points on people getting SAFE cookstoves as opposed to clean ones. Certainly if i were to do a census in my rural community there would be more worried about burns that they are about getting pneumonias or cancers from the smoke. So yes the goals should be SAFE cookstoves first and then slowly bring in alternative energy sources like solar and electricity. In my own opinion elevating all cook stoves to be at least 1metre above ground will prevent a lot of under 5year olds toppling pots of hot water and porridge over themselves. Great article Jenn.
Dov Gottesfeld
/ November 21, 2011Until such time, when safe cooking stoves could be donated and distributed, an educational campaign must be launched to educate those women and children.
Dov
Sara Anderson
/ November 29, 2011Thanks for your blog post. As you may know, ReSurge International has been providing surgeries for burn victims in developing countries for more than 40 years. In 2007, we wrote the policy paper, “Burns: The Forgotten Global Health Crisis,” and have been working to bring this issue to light since that time. We appreciate your efforts too, as despite our own efforts, few influencers are talking about it.
In June of this year, we met with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves about the issue you raise. Since then, they have added the burn injuries to their agenda and have asked us to join the Alliance to help bring the issue forward. That being said, respiratory illnesses, environmental issues and concern about women’s time and safety in the collection of wood all are much higher priorities. But rest assured, burns are not completely off their radar.
To learn more about the Forgotten Global Health Crisis of Burns, I invite you to view our videos and check out our website. To collaborate further, please contact me and let’s get the word out about burns and their devastating impact on the world’s poor.