The Fire Under the Shed
2016
This case considers an effort in Ghana to address the public health issue of air pollution from biomass fuel cook stove smoke, known to lead to acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in children under five. The case follows a research fellow working with the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS) team at the Kintampo Health Research as she performs a case research study on gari (cassava grits) processing involving biomass fuel; Ghana is the sixth-largest producer of gari in the world. Narrative descriptions of interviews with gari processors, community leaders, and the district government officer help the reader understand the levels of knowledge about health risks and the perceptions of air pollution attributable to biomass fuel used in the gari processing industry.
The case includes guidance for instructors, including learning objectives and discussion questions. It is the first in an 11-case collection written by students in the MPH class of the Schulich Interfaculty Program in Public Health at Western University, Canada. The cases may be freely copied and used for educational purposes by an accredited educational institution.
Source:
Adeshina OO et al. The Fire Under the Shed: The Cornerstone Fuelling Our Plight. Western Public Health Casebook. Public Health Casebook Publishing 2016. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/westernpublichealthcases/vol2016/iss1/7.