Pneumonia is one of the leading causes of child morbidity in Malawi with thousands of children under the age of five reported to be dying every year.

Exposure to smoke produced when biomass fuels (animal or plant material) are burned in open fires is a major risk factor in more cases of pneumonia.

In Malawi, where at least 95% of households depend on biomass as their main source of fuel, biomass smoke exposure is likely to be responsible for a substantial burden of this disease.