This paper reviews the application of epidemiological understanding of diarrhoeal disease to interventions in water and sanitation. Over the past 20 years, great efforts have been made to elucidate the relationships between water supply, sanitation and diarrhoeal disease. At the outset, it was hoped that improved understanding of these relations could provide a rational framework for the planni...

Unless strategies are found to galvanise rural communities and create a demand for sanitation, we cannot achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of halving the 2.4 billion people without sanitation by the year 2015. This study describes an innovative methodology used in Zimbabwe--Community Health Clubs--which significantly changed hygiene behaviour and built rural demand for sani...

BACKGROUND People living with HIV/AIDS have substantially greater need for water, sanitation, and hygiene. Encouraging hygiene education for People Living with HIV/AIDS in home based care services and additional support for the provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene services is recommended. METHODS A cross-sectional study was carried during 2009 to assess water, sanitation status and hyg...

The Water and Sanitation Program (WSP) is a multi-donor partnership administered by the World Bank to help the poor gain access to water supply and sanitation services that are accessible, safe, and sustainable. Th e fi ndings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this document are entirely those of the authors and should not be attributed to the World Bank, its affi liated organizatio...

Community health practice in vari­ ous forms has been recorded for over 5 000 years (Anderson, 1969). The ancient Egyptians developed a community system for water supply and sewage disposal. The Hebrews focused on the promotion of health through the Mosaic code which regulated personal hygiene, food, sanitation, maternal health, and more. The Greeks (500-100 BC) emphasised values of personal hy...

BACKGROUND Lack of safe drinking water, basic sanitation, and hygienic practices are associated with high morbidity and mortality from excreta related diseases. The aims of this study were to determine the bacteriological and physico-chemical quality of drinking water and investigate the hygiene and sanitation practices of the consumers in Bahir Dar City, Ethiopia. METHODS A cross sectional p...

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) in schools contributes to better health and educational outcomes among school-aged children. In 2012, UNICEF Nicaragua and partners conducted a cross-sectional survey of WaSH in 526 schools in 12 low socio-economic status municipalities in Nicaragua. The survey gathered information on: school characteristics; teacher and community participation; water and s...

INTRODUCTION A growing proportion of the global population rely on shared sanitation facilities, despite their association with adverse health outcomes. We sought to explore differences between neighbour-shared and communal latrines in terms household demographics, accessibility, facilities and use. METHODS We conducted surveys among 295 households relying on shared sanitation in 30 slums in ...

India is a country where Atomic Age and near Stone Age people co-exist. On one hand India has achieved development in many areas, but on the other hand there is still the practice of open defecation and manual cleaning of human excreta from bucket privies by scavengers. National sanitation coverage is only about 34% meaning that 66% of the population practises open defecation. Such unhygienic c...