MANILA -- The Department of Health (DOH) is looking at the possibility of providing poor households covered under the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) with quality cooking stoves to address indoor pollution and its ill-effects to the poor.
Health Secretary Paulyn Ubial on Monday said they will discuss with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) methods on how the proposal can be made possible among the family-beneficiaries of the said program.
Under the plan, LPG or electric stoves will be provided to beneficiaries so that they will not resort to cooking with charcoal and wood, especially those in rural areas.
"We are exploring that idea thru CCT (Conditional Cash Transfer or 4Ps) families. Instead of providing them money, we can provide them the (stoves)," said Ubial.
Ubial said such program is already being practiced in other countries, adding that constant exposure to charcoal and wood smoke poses adverse effects to health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), household air pollution from dirty fuels and inefficient cookstove technologies is estimated to have caused around 4 million premature deaths in 2012.
Diseases which can be acquired from these include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke, lung cancer deaths, and heart disease, among others.
The plan complements the aim of the CCT program which is to break the inter-generational cycle of poverty and improve health and sanitation.
CCT is a program of the government that provides cash grants to household beneficiaries as an investment on the health and education of the poor identified under the National Household Targetting System for Poverty Reduction Program (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan (Listahan ng Mahihirap na Pamilya).
Currently, some 4.4 million families benefit from the program. (PNA)
