The trial will be conducted in rural Malawi.
150 villages will be randomly assigned to an intervention or control group.
In the intervention villages, all households with a child up to the age of 4.5 years will receive two Philips fan-assisted stoves to fully replace their traditional cooking methods (mainly open fires).
In the control villages, all households with a child up to the age of 4.5 years will continue with their traditional cooking methods.
Included villages will stay in the study for 2 years.
The main outcome of interest is pneumonias in children under 5 years of age.
Other outcomes include measures of air pollution and economic and social impacts of the stoves.
Further information
The ISRCTN registry record for the CAPS Trial can be found here.
The Lancet summary: Protocol 13PRT/4689:An advanced cookstove intervention to prevent pneumonia in children younger than 5 years in Malawi: a cluster randomised controlled trial (ISRCTN59448623) can be found here.
The BBC report Surviving Childhood in Africa can be found here
