NGO urges awareness on cooking gas

cooking-gas

An NGO, Africare on Friday stressed the need to sensitise people on the importance of cooking with gas to help reduce dangers associated with inhalation of smoke.

The Country Director of Africare, Dr Orode Doherty, made this known in her address at the “Upgrade to Gas” community awareness campaign held in Bwari area council, in the FCT.

She said that the habit of inhaling smoke often released when cooking with charcoal or wood burning could cause harm to one’s health due to chemicals often produced by such materials.

She observed 98,000 women in Nigeria die every year as a result of exposure to firewood and other dirty fuel.

“Our choice of Bwari as the venue for our campaign is because we encountered lots of women with health challenges from cooking with firewood.

“Smoke can contain different chemicals such monoxide, carbon dioxide and particulate matter that are unhealthy.

“We need to sensitise people about ways to avoid exposure to high-level smoke; inhaling smoke can cause side effect on the health.

“Smoke contains harmful chemicals which can irritate your eyes, nose and throat, cause headache, reduce alertness and even aggravate heart condition.

“This is why they must move to gas, some people think that gas is expensive, it is no doubt cheaper than firewood, kerosene or charcoal.

“It is safer, it is healthier with fewer home accident, it even reduces unnecessary cost and at the end of the day you will realize it is cost less using gas to cook.”

Doherty recalled that the Federal Government had on June 28, approved the new National Gas Policy, adding that when fully implemented, it would improve the fortunes of the nation’s economic.

She revealed plans had been put on ground by the organisation to carry out sensitization about the importance of gas across the six geopolitical zones of the country, to promote awareness.

Mr Gyet Dogara, Manager of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) in NNPC, stressed that sensitization should be carried out in local dialect to enable rural dwellers acquire the knowledge.

“Most people do not understand the side effect of inhaling smoke that is why we must explain to them in their language.

“Through proper awareness creation most people will be able to move towards using gas to cook.

“Since some people complained that they do not have the money to buy gas; I suggest that governments at all levels intervene by providing support to be able to afford it at reduced price.

“Gas will be readily available between now and December, the price will continue to go down and the government is handling that to ensure the commodity reaches everybody in the domestic market.”

Responding, the Chairman of Bwari, Mr Musa Dikko, promised to do everything within the ambit of his administration to support women in the area to change to using gas.

He, however, urged the participants to put every lesson they had learnt at the event to practice to achieve the goal.

“We will do everything on our part to make support women in the use of gas in our community,’ Dikko said.