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Data Shows That Chances Of Tuberculosis Is Reduced In Houses With Clean Fuels
Swarajya Staff
Mar 09, 2018, 08:54 AM | Updated 08:54 AM IST
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Statistics from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) show a strong indication that the increased adoption of cleaner fuel such as cooking gas may reduce the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) in India, reports Mint. Data from the 2015-16 survey showed a high level of disparity in prevalence of TB depending on what kind of fuel was used. Houses using solid cooking fuels as opposed to cleaner fuels have shown higher instances of TB being present.
There is a great deal of variation in the prevalence of TB according to the type of cooking fuel the household uses, ranging from a low of 206 per 100,000 usual residents in households using electricity, liquid petroleum gas (LPG, or cooking gas), natural gas, or biogas to a high of 567 persons per 100,000 in households using straw, shrubs, or grass for cooking.
India is among the top countries affected with tuberculosis (2.79 million in 2016) with the highest number of deaths (42.9 million in 2016). Around 44 per cent of Indian households use cooking gas with the survey saying that the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) which aims to provide free liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to 50 million households might help reduce the occurrence of TB altogether.
TB prevalence is higher in households cooking in the house without having a separate room for cooking (383 persons per 100,000) than in households that cook in a separate room of the house (233 persons per 100,000) or in a separate building (306 per 100,000, but is highest of all in households cooking outdoors (425 persons per 100,000).
Experts says that exposure to smoke inside the house led to higher levels of pollution, which indirectly increases the risk of contracting TB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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