Lao Voices

Fuelwood is the only main source of cooking and heating consumption in Laos. While the production of electricity from hydro-power is substantial, most of it is exported to Thailand and other neighboring countries. According to the recent report by the Vientiane Times Newspaper, firewood and charcoal remain the household fuel of choice and account for 95% of the primary source of energy for cooking.

The use of the most basic fuel for heating and cooking in a developing country such as Laos is bad for the health, especially for the women and children. The traditional methods of cooking by wood or charcoal stoves are mostly done by the women and children.

Health officials have expressed concerns for the long term health impacts on women and children, caused by household pollutants that arise from cooking for a family everyday.

A survey, conducted between December 2005 and April 2006 in Borikhamxay and Vientiane provinces by the Environmental Health Division of the Ministry of Public Health, and the WHO, found that both outdoor pollution arising from vehicles, and indoor pollution from firewood, charcoal and smoking, are cause for concern.

The survey worked with 119 control households and 157 test households. Results were based on a total of 182 children and 137 women.

Chief of the division, Dr Tayphasavanh Fengthong, said that almost half of those women aged between 20 and 29 years spent 1-3 hours in the home’s cooking area, while three quarters of the children aged between one and two years spent more than five hours in the area.

“Children in dwellings with higher levels of Nitrous Oxide (NO 2 ) and Carbon Monoxide (CO), that arise from the burning of these fuels, are more than twice as likely to suffer from itchy rashes or eczema, and stinging or watering eyes and infections,” Dr Tayphasavanh said.

Source: Vientiane Times News Article.