The World Health Organization estimate that household air
pollution (HAP) is responsible for the premature death of 4.3
million people each year through acute lower respiratory infections,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, ischaemic
heart disease, and stroke.1 In rural regions of developing
countries such as the Samlout District in northwest
Cambodia, where more than 90% of people rely on solid
cookfuels,2 the problem is particularly important.
Since 2010 the United Nation's Global Alliance for Clean
Cookstoves has sought to catalyse widespread adoption of
cleaner cooking practice. However, interventions effective in
the laboratory have yielded limited results in-field.3,4 A
growing global consensus has emerged that access to new
technologies, such as improved cookstoves, is a necessary but
insufficient condition to address this public health crisis.5
A strategic shift towards a more integrated strategy has
been recommended.5 In recognition of this, we launched our
Indoor Smoke Pollution Reduction Enterprise (INSPiRE), a bottom-up
health improvement collaboration between villagers of the
Samlout District and the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation,
designed to tackle HAP in rural northwest Cambodia. The lessons
learned from our initiative may have practical applications
for others attempting to address HAP in similar settings.