Effect of use of socially marketed faucet fitted earthen vessel/sodium hypochlorite solution on diarrhea prevention at household level in rural India

Objective: To evaluate the effect of socially marketed faucet fitted to earthen vessel / sodium hypochlorite solution on diarrhea prevention at rural household level as a social intervention for diarrhea prevention under ‘Community Led Initiatives for Child Survival (CLICS) program. Methods: Unmatched case-control study was carried out in 10 villages of Primary Health Centre, Anji, located in rural central India. During the study period, 144 households used either faucet fitted earthen vessel to store drinking water or used sodium hypochlorite solution (SH) for keeping drinking water safe. These served as case households for the present study. 213 neighborhood control households from same locality who used neither of the methods were also selected. Results: Odds ratio for households who used faucets fitted to earthen vessel was 0.49 (95% CI= 0.25 – 0.95). Odds ratio for households who used sodium hypochlorite solution was 0.55 (95% CI= 0.31 – 0.98). Use of these methods by the community, would prevent about 27 percent and 22 percent cases of the diarrhea (Population attributable risk proportion = 0.25 by faucets fitted to earthen vessels and 0.22 by use of sodium hypochlorite solution) respectively. Conclusion: To ensure safe drinking water at household level, the effective and cheap methods like fitting faucet to traditionally used earthen vessel and/or use of sodium hypochlorite solution must be promoted through community participation at household level for cost and culture sensitive rural people in India.