2 million people, mainly women and young children, die each year from acute lower respiratory infections, lung cancer, and chronic diseases caused by household air pollution (HAP) from cooking and heating with solid fuels, the result of long hours breathing toxic cooking smoke. Several recent studies also demonstrate the impact of HAP on birthweight, stillbirth and perinatal mortality. While earlier generations of improved cookstoves did not achieve emissions reductions necessary for major health benefits, emerging evidence suggests that newer, more advanced cookstoves are a cost--effective public health intervention with unrealized potential for reducing severe pneumonia in young children. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves is an groundbreaking public-private initiative dedicated to saving lives, improving livelihoods, empowering women, and combating climate change by promoting universal adoption of clean, efficient cooking solutions. After a brief overview of the latest global risk assessment on the burden of disease from HAP, this session will highlight critical research and public health programs conducted by Alliance partners which focus on the health benefits of clean cookstoves. These programs include: the first WHO air quality guidelines for Household Air Pollution, cookstove dissemination in humanitarian settings in Ethiopia, designing a burns surveillance system in India, assessing how stove design impact stove sales and use in rural Kenya, and integrating cookstoves into antenatal care packages in Ghana.