Oil giant, Shell says about 90 million Nigerians suffer from health problems resulting from their exposure to large concentration of toxins emitted from burning of fuels occasioned by the use of smoke-emitting cooking stoves.
Country Chairman of Shell Companies in Nigeria (SCIN), Mr. Mutiu Sumonu, disclosed this yesterday while speaking at the Clean Cookstove Exhibition Day, organised by SCIN and the Nigerian Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in Port Harcourt.
Sumonu said 70 per cent of those suffering from the health problems are in the rural areas, pointing out that Nigeria experiences the highest number of smoke-related deaths in Africa, after malaria and HIV/AIDS.
He stated that other serious health problems associated with exposure to large concentration of toxins from smoke-emitting cooking stoves include; pre-mature babies, babies weighing less than 2.5 kilogramme, mental damage, lung diseases and birth defects.
Sumonu who was represented by the Manager, Geo-Solutions of Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Mr. Gabriel Nedo Osayande,? said the multi-national oil firm launched the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in 2010 in collaboration with Shell Foundation and numerous United States government agencies and non-governmental organisations.