Smoke kills four million people annually worldwide – Research

Smoke from traditional cook stoves kills about four million people annually worldwide, a research has revealed.

Mr Augustine Osei Bonsu, Director of Vivo Energy Ghana, distributors of market Shell-branded fuels and lubricants in the country, disclosed on Saturday that, more than 85 per cent of such deaths were due to Indoor Air Pollution, which occurs mostly in Africa.

He was speaking at a presentation ceremony at Ntotroso, where Newmont Ahafo Mine of Newmont Ghana Gold Limited (NGGL) in the Asutifi North District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, in collaboration with Vivo Energy Ghana, distributed 400 stoves and 200 solar lamps to some resettlement at the Ahafo mine-take area.

Mr Bonsu said the research revealed that women and children, especially girls who often worked at home around the fire, are the greatest risk, adding that, based on this information, Shell Foundation partnered with Envirofit International in 2007 to launch a World-wide Clean Technology Cook Stoves Business to impact indoor air pollution.

“They teamed up to make available quality energy efficient cook stoves to minimize emissions of smoke and harmful chemicals that lead to disease and death”, he explained.

Mr Bonsu said access to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is expected to help, however, LPG in the domestic fuel mix is 18 per cent in Ghana, and even at that level, concentration of use remained in urban areas, an indication that majority of Ghanaians depended on charcoal and firewood.

He explained that the efficient clean burning cook stoves distributed to residents would reduce charcoal use in cooking by 60 per cent, thereby contributing to minimizing the problem of deforestation.

It also promotes efficient combustion and significantly impacts the environment positively with 65 per cent reduction of carbon monoxide emissions, 80 per cent reduction of smoke and toxic emissions and 40 per cent reduction of black carbon emissions.

Mr Bonsu said beyond the direct health and economic benefit, women and children would now spend less time looking for firewood, which would translate into quality time for them.

Mr Kojo Bedu-Addo, External Affairs Manager of the Newmont Ahafo mine, urged the beneficiaries to take proper care of the items.