Exploring Energy Poverty and Health Outcomes in Rural Communities of Gombe State, North East Nigeria

Energy poverty and health outcomes are closely linked through pathways including indoor air pollution from solid fuel combustion, inadequate healthcare facility electricity supply, inability to store medications requiring cold-chain conditions, and physical dangers associated with unsafe lighting, yet robust empirical evidence documenting this nexus in Gombe State, North East Nigeria, is absent from published literature. This study explores the relationship between household energy poverty and selected health outcomes in rural communities of Gombe State, applying mixed methods to document causal pathways, quantify health burden differences, and assess community perceptions. A household health and energy survey was administered to 380 respondents across 16 communities, collecting data on cooking fuel type, electricity access, respiratory symptoms, child malnutrition indicators, malaria treatment seeking behaviour, and reproductive health outcomes. Logistic regression models estimate the association between energy poverty status and self-reported respiratory illness, child stunting, and maternal health care access after controlling for income, education, and community-level confounders. Qualitative thematic analysis of focus group discussions explores perceived causal linkages and coping strategies. Results indicate that households relying on solid biomass fuels exhibit 2.7 times higher odds of reporting chronic respiratory symptoms compared to households with clean cooking access. Child stunting prevalence is 11 percentage points higher in energy-poor communities. The study recommends integration of energy access interventions into community health programming by Gombe State Primary Health Care Development Agency. Keywords: energy poverty, health outcomes, Gombe State, indoor air pollution, rural communities.