Burns, scalds and poisonings from household energy use in South Africa: Are the energy poor at greater risk?
Section snippets
Introduction and motivation
Despite the primacy of energy in people's lives, most sub-Saharan Africans live in energy poverty. About 80% of Sub-Saharan Africans primarily rely on solid fuels for meeting household energy needs, whilst about 7% use paraffin in their homes (World Bank, 2013, UNDP and WHO, 2009). The use of paraffin and solid fuels has been associated with fires, poisonings, and household air pollution related health losses (Polsky and Ly, 2012, Lam et al., 2012, Truran, 2009). Lack of access to modern energy
Energy use patterns in low income households
Energy consumption patterns amongst low income South African households show a strong correlation with spatial location and socioeconomic characteristics (DoE, 2009). Rural–urban divide, climatic conditions, and locality have a large influence on energy choices. Choices seem to be largely influenced by availability and affordability, with woody biomass being more commonly deployed in rural provinces, coal on the Highveld, and paraffin in urban provinces. Multiple fuel use is common in both
Data and methods
The analysis of risk at a household level required the use of three data sets. Data on fires and on paraffin-related household incidents were obtained using Paraffin Safety Association of Southern Africa (PASASA) household survey data. Information on energy-related injuries was obtained from hospital admission data, also collected by PASASA. The frequency of types of fuel use was determined using the 2008/2009 South African Department of Energy (DoE) survey on the socioeconomic impact of
Results
The results below are presented for all households with total household incomes of less than R1600 per month in 2008 prices, that reside in urban informal areas and that acquire at least one of the six energy sources (candles, coal, electricity, gas, paraffin and firewood). In the DoE, 2009 data, this amounts to 595 households, 286 of which are electrified. The DoE dataset contains weights that can be used to produce estimates that are nationally-representative of electrified and
Discussion and conclusions
Household energy related accidents such as fires, burns and poisonings are an important cause of ill health in South Africa. This research assesses the risks of such incidents across key provinces in South Africa amongst poor informal settlement inhabitants. We analyse how these risks are distributed across different subpopulations and relate to general poverty and energy poverty, specifically. Our findings carry broad implications for policymakers on how to prioritize and target actions to
Acknowledgments
Our gratitude goes to DoE and Mr Dehran Swart of PASASA for providing the datasets used in the analytical section of this study. We are grateful to DST and NRF for sponsorship of the inaugural SA-YSSP 2012/2013 programme where most of this project was carried out. Lastly, we appreciate the University of the Free State for coordination and hosting of the SA-YSSP programme.
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