Project Health in Slums

Project Health in Slums

In the slums of India, cooking almost always takes place indoors over an open fire. This is not only dangerous, but it also exposes mothers and young children to large amounts of smoke every single day. As a result, many young children become seriously ill or die from pneumonia, and many mothers also fall ill or die at a young age from lung cancer or COPD.

Together with these mothers, we have spent the past ten years developing stoves that fit seamlessly with their cooking habits. The result: safe, user-friendly stoves that reduce air pollution by 90% and wood consumption by 40%. Depending on the materials used, the cost of a stove is only 10–20 euros — crucial for families who often have no more than a few euros a day to live on. The stoves can also be made by slum residents themselves using simple molds, increasing the impact even further.

With a small contribution, you can give a vulnerable family a safe kitchen, cleaner air, and a healthier future. One stove can make a world of difference.

Valedictory lecture Onno van Schayck

On June 11, 2026, Onno van Schayck will deliver his valedictory lecture, titled “In Search of Clarity: A Journey Through Preventive Healthcare and it’s Challenges”. He is Professor of Preventive Medicine at the CAPHRI Research Institute of the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences. In 1997, he was appointed a KNAW Research Fellow. From 2000–2013 he served as the scientific (co-)director of the CAPHRI Research Institute (and the ExTra Institute). From 2013–2025 he was the scientific director of the national research school CaRe, of which CAPHRI was a part.

Onno first visited India in 2010. As scientific director of CAPHRI (Maastricht University), he had been invited to establish collaborations with Indian research institutes. During conversations with slum residents, he saw mothers and babies constantly coughing and noticed the walls blackened with soot from the open fires traditionally used for indoor cooking. The continuous exposure to smoke caused severe health problems. His response was to explore how solutions could be developed together with the slum community.

This marked the beginning of Project Exhale – the first project of Health in Slums.

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