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Hordes of charcoal being sold as fuel for cooking
Health and environmental experts have raised an alarm over the continued use of firewood, kerosene, and charcoal by millions of Nigerian households, warning that household air pollution from these unclean cooking methods contributes to millions of premature deaths globally each year.
Speaking at a Stakeholders’ Sensitisation Meeting on Clean-Fuel, Clean Cookstove Study held in Lagos on Wednesday, researchers from the New York University Grossman School of Medicine (NYUGSoM), University of Chicago, and Lagos State University College of Medicine (LASUCOM) called for urgent policy action and behavioural change.
Professor Ololade Wright, the Implementing Principal Investigator, said household air pollution is one of the most pressing public health issues.
“Globally, 4.3 million premature deaths are recorded yearly due to household air pollution caused by the use of solid fuels. In Nigeria, about 90 million households are still cooking with solid fuels,” Wright explained.
She stressed that the project aims to drive the adoption of clean, high-efficiency cookstoves through community mobilisation, reducing exposure to harmful smoke and preventing related illnesses such as hypertension in peri-urban Lagos communities.Newspaper subscription bundles
Professor Gbenga Ogedegbe, the Project’s Principal Investigator, highlighted the long-term health implications of traditional cooking methods.
“Research has shown that the use of firewood is linked not only to respiratory diseases but also to cognitive decline,” he stated.
On the environmental side, Dr. Babatunde Ajayi, General Manager of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), said household air pollution worsens climate change while endangering health.
“Lagos has made progress in air pollution measurement and control, but citizens themselves must also take deliberate steps to switch to clean cooking methods rather than wait for government intervention,” Ajayi said.
The experts jointly urged the Lagos State Government to create policies that would accelerate the transition from unclean to clean cooking, while also calling on households to embrace safer alternatives to protect both health and the environment. (The Guardian)
