Household Energy Use Survey Preparations

Institute of Public Health (IPH), with the support of WHO Pristina, is preparing to go on the field during November to carry out the household energy use survey. This would be a first survey of its kind in Kosovo, and the purpose is to estimate the health effects resulting from use of heating and cooking fuels from households in Kosovo. Two thousand (2,000) randomly selected households will be surveyed, using a WHO standardized questionnaire that was adapted to the Kosovo context in close consultations with health, environment, and energy experts in Kosovo.

Just before the IPH team goes on the field, on 27th of October 2022 WHO Pristina organized a training for the field team so that they become fully familiar with the questionnaire, the methodology and approach to use when selecting households, using of the questionnaire in the tablets, and others.  

The support to IPH is provided by WHO Pristina, in close coordination with the WHO HQ unit on Air Quality and Health and aligned with WHO guidelines and recommendations. Activities are being implemented in the frame of Healthier Kosovo 2 project, funded by Luxembourg. The state of ambient air quality and its main sources are well documented in Kosovo, and health effects have been estimated by different parties. However, the state of indoor air quality is less known. It is believed that a significant portion of the population in Kosovo are using wood & coal for heating and cooking, and due to this, the household sector has become one of the largest contributors of ambient air pollution. This survey aims to explore how the use of these fuels and devices, is contributing towards indoor air pollution. Since household air pollution is responsible for millions of premature deaths globally (3.2 million in 2020), understanding its state in Kosovo is crucial for public health measures. Once this survey is complete, WHO in close collaboration with IPH, are looking at a potential follow-up activity where a select group of households that have indicated to be more prone to household air pollution, will be selected to carry out actual measurements of the pollutants inside their dwellings. This will provide further evidence on the extent and severity of this issue in Kosovo so that relevant stakeholders can design concrete interventions to better the situation.

The findings and recommendations from these studies will be communicated to all relevant Kosovo stakeholders, with the aim to plan for concrete interventions and public health measures to improve the situation. WHO will continue supporting health stakeholders in Kosovo to continue assessing and addressing the potential health implications from air pollution and other environmental factors.