Ceramic indoor stoves did not significantly reduce the risk of pneumonia in young children. Pheumonia is the leading cause of death in children under five years of age in developing countries, most of these deaths occure in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Household air pollution can increase the risk of pneumonia unfortunately the ceramic stoves didn’t reduce the risk enough to make a significant difference.
Inexpensive, locally-produced ceramic cookstoves may produce less smoke than traditional indoor 3-stone firepits, but they don’t significantly reduce indoor air pollution or the risk of pneumonia in young children, according to results from a small, year-long observational study by researchers working in rural Kenya.
The findings, published online today in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, are the first to examine the health impacts of ceramic cookstoves that do not vent smoke to the outside of the house, said Robert Quick, MD, MPH, a researcher in the Division of Waterborne, Foodborne, and Enteric Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Women who used the ceramic stoves (called “upesi jiko,” which is Swahili for “quick stove”) reported less smoke in their homes, along with fewer stinging eyes and runny noses. However, the study found that even though there were fewer respiratory symptoms, these stoves only reduced air pollution by 13 percent and there was no significant difference in pneumonia among children under 3 years of age in these homes when compared to those in homes with 3-stone firepits. . . Continue Reading
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In Columbia, the CAP and AARP are teaming up to offer people free tax help. The organizations want to help people take advantage of tax breaks they are eligible for.
Lower Columbia Community Action Program (CAP) and trained AARP Tax Aide volunteers will provide free tax assistance to filers of all ages and incomes from Jan. 15 through April 18.
Once again this year, CAP and AARP are encouraging people to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, which is a tax break for qualifying people who work but have low wages.
“Many workers are eligible for this tax credit and don’t know it,” according to Liz Myntti, program manager at CAP’s Financial Independence Center.
She encourages individuals who earned less than $43,352, and couples who earned less than $48,362, to see if they qualify. Taxpayers do not have to have children to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit, she added.
This year AARP tax aides will be at three sites in the area: from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays at… continue reading
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