Sabrina Naz
Western Sydney University, Australia
Title: Household air pollution and under-five mortality in South Asia
Biography
Biography: Sabrina Naz
Abstract
Household air pollution (HAP) - predominantly from cooking fuel is a major public health hazard and one of the leading causes of respiratory illness and deaths among children under-five years in South Asia. The association between HAP from cooking fuel and under-five mortality was examined using Demographic and Health Survey datasets for Bangladesh (2004-2011), India (1992-2006), Pakistan (1990-2013) and Nepal (2001-2011), and the extent to which the association differed by environmental and behavioral factors affecting the level of exposure. A total of 166,382 living children under-five from India, 18,308 from Bangladesh, 16,766 from Nepal and 11,507 from Pakistan were used for this study. Multi-level logistic regression models were used for analyses and the result showed strong association for Nepal (OR=1.99, 95%CI=1.25-3.18, P=0.004), followed by India (OR=1.30, 95%CI=1.18-1.43, P<0.001), Bangladesh (OR=1.14, 95%CI=0.83-1.55, P=0.422) and Pakistan (OR=1.13, 95%CI=0.83-1.53, P=0.433). Use of cooking fuel in the household is associated with increased risk of mortality in children aged under-five years. Improved infrastructure, household design and behavioural interventions can help reduce this pollution from cooking fuel resulting in further declines in under-five mortality in South Asian countries.