Intrahousehold differences in perceived health risks of using solid fuels for cooking

Household air pollution (HAP) caused an estimated 3.2 million deaths in 2020. Roughly 30% of the world’s population still relies on biomass-fueled stoves or open fires for cooking, which significantly contributes to HAP. One potential reason for the continued use of solid fuels could be limited awareness about health risks. Notably, since women’s exposure to HAP is much higher than men’s as they are often the primary cooks, it is possible that such lack of awareness is more pronounced for men. Our study proposes to first measure and highlight the differences in the subjective beliefs held by the household head and the primary cook about the health risks of cooking with solid fuels. We will then conduct a cluster RCT where either the household head or the primary cook will be given information in a one on one session about the actual health risks of using solid fuels. This includes information about long term diseases as well as prevalence of symptoms associated with the use of solid fuels from a baseline survey. The content of the information will be varied between treatments in order to test whether household heads prioritize the health of children over primary cooks. Through this study we aim to understand how such an information intervention affects household members' beliefs, fuel usage, and health outcomes.