Thompson Funded to Study Household Air Pollution Among Low-Income Communities in Guatemala

Friday, October 24, 2014

Lisa Thompson, RN, PhD, associate professor in the UCSF School of Nursing, along with Anaite Diaz from Universidad del Valle and Christina Espinoza, co-founder of GenteGas SA, has won a Phase I grant award through Grand Challenges Canada, a global health organization funded by the Canadian government.

This project’s novel approach will train women entrepreneurs to sell liquid petroleum gas (LPG) stoves and provide education about reducing exposures to household air pollution (HAP). The main goal of the pilot study is to determine whether a market-based model for liquid petroleum gas stove adoption and household education will lead to adoption, uptake and sustained use of liquid petroleum gas stoves.

“One of the greatest ways to empower women in developing countries is to liberate them, and their young female children, from the hours spent gathering wood and leaning over smoky fires to cook food,” Thompson said.

Household air pollution from burning wood, charcoal, manure, agricultural waste and other solid biomass cooking fuels affects 2.7 billion people worldwide, or 38 percent of humanity. It also causes 4 million premature deaths a year.

Source: UCSF (link opens in a new window)

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