Epidemiology: Open Access
Open Access

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.

Biography

Sabrina has been studying PhD in Epidemiology at the Centre of Health Research, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW 2571, Australia. She has completed her Masters degree in Biostatistics. This study was part of her thesis for a doctoral disseration. The results from this study for Bangladesh has been published in International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health.

Email: 18125072@student.uws.edu.au