In the June NICHD Research Perspectives, NIH researchers and other experts described the health risks of indoor air pollution caused by cooking fires in the developing world and the research that needs to be undertaken to solve this problem.
Open fires and inefficient, smoky stoves in resource-poor countries have been linked to pneumonia in children, and to heart disease, lung disease, and lung cancer in adults. The problem disproportionately affects women and children, who have more exposure to the smoke because they spend more time indoors.
The guest host for this month’s podcast was Dr. Roger Glass, director of NIH’s Fogarty International Center. Dr. Glass spoke with NICHD’s Dr. William Martin and Dr. John Balbus of the National Institute of Health Sciences, regarding a research conference on providing safe alternatives to the smoky conditions. He also interviewed Dr. Sumi Mehta of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, and the Fogarty International Center’s Dr. Yvonne Njage about the research that needs to be conducted before safer cookstoves are introduced to poor areas.
The June podcast is available at http:// www.nichd.nih.gov/about/overview/directors_corner/
podcasts/Documents/NICHD_Research_Perspectives_061213.mp3 (MP3 - 17 MB) and the transcript at http:// www.nichd.nih.gov/about/overview/directors_corner/podcasts/
Pages/transcript_perspectives_061213.aspx.
Previous NICHD Research Perspectives are available at http:// www.nichd.nih.gov/researchperspectives.
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About the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD): The NICHD sponsors research on development, before and after birth; maternal, child, and family health; reproductive biology and population issues; and medical rehabilitation. For more information, visit the Institute’s Web site at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/.
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