By Prensa Latina, United Nations : Use of solid fuels for heating and cooking without adequate ventilation is blamed for five percent of deaths in 21 countries, and has been labelled one of the top 10 public health threats.
Susanne Weber-Mosforf, World Health Organisation official for Sustainable Development and Healthful Environments, said preliminary estimates revealed high levels of illness in contaminated homes in some regions.
This is the cause of 1.2 million deaths every year in Afghanistan, Angola, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, China, Congo, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan and Tanzania.
Weber-Mosforf said the deaths are preventable and solutions are at hand. She said it was an “international duty to promote health and well-being for the victims, mostly women and children”.