Measurement of handwashing behavior | WASH, Toilets, Nutrition in Bangladesh | HWTS | Cholera
Dan Campbell
Some newly published studies that look interesting:
Measurement of handwashing behaviour in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys, 1985–2008. Waterlines, Nov 2015. Libbet C. Loughnan, , Pavani K. Ram, Rolf Luyendijk.
Full text: http://goo.gl/RwdvSi
With this paper, we aim to describe handwashing worldwide, as measured in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in low- and middle-income countries between 1985 and 2008, and to explain the strengths, weaknesses and evolution of this data collection to inform future survey development. Before 2009, eight MICS and 40 DHS included handwashing-related measurements, using a variety of self-reports and rapid observations. Internal triangulation of findings from surveys that collected multiple types of measurement shows that self-reports to closed questions overestimate behaviour. Observation-based data suggest low handwashing rates in many low- and middle-income countries with high prevalence of water and sanitation-related diseases, and high inter- and intra-country disparities. Efforts to increase the prevalence of handwashing with soap and water need to be strengthened in many low- and middle-income countries, especially among poorer, rural populations and where the household head has less formal education. Closed questions asking for self-reports of handwashing behaviour should be avoided. Findings support instead the inclusion of uniform observation-based measurements, as were integrated as core modules of MICS and DHS in 2009.
Water, Sanitation, Hygiene, and Nutrition in Bangladesh: Can Building Toilets Affect Children’s Growth? 2015. Iffat Mahmud and Nkosinathi Mbuya, World Bank.
Full text: https://goo.gl/jsKCgR
This report provides a systematic review of the evidence to date, both published and grey literature, on the relationship between water and sanitation and nutrition. We also examine the potential impact of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) on undernutrition. This is the first report that undertakes a thorough review and discussion of WASH and nutrition in Bangladesh.
Household water treatment and safe storage – effectiveness and economics. Drink. Water Eng. Sci. Discuss., 8, 143–176, 2015 S. M. L. Stubbé, A. et al.
Full text: http://goo.gl/BhX0mY
In this study the effectiveness, costs and cost drivers 5 of three selected HWTS systems were identified. The selected systems are SODIS, ceramic filter and biosand filter. These options were selected based on their current usage rate, available scientific data, and future potential.
Cost-efficiency of rural sanitation promotion: activity-based costing and experimental evidence from Tanzania. Jnl Dev Effec, 2015. Bertha Briceño and Claire Chase.
Full text: http://goo.gl/bGqxl5
This paper applies cost-efficiency analysis to an intervention that promotes behavior change for rural sanitation in Tanzania. The campaign targets a number of potential beneficiaries, out of which some are effectively encouraged to adopt the new practices (beneficiaries). As a result, the cost-efficiency of the programme depends on the extent of take-up of improved sanitation by the target population, unknown in advance. Results show that sanitation promotion did not lead to higher investment relative to the than the cost-per-person targeted or at-reach of the campaign. Using these estimates, the authors found that universal coverage can be obtained for the equivalent of 4 per cent of Tanzania’s national GDP (2013). They also used parameters estimated from the study to simulate cost-per-person of the programme when take-up increases (efficiency gains).
Predictive Time Series Analysis Linking Bengal Cholera with Terrestrial Water Storage Measured from Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Sensors. Am Jnl Trop Med Hyg, Nov 2015. Antarpreet Jutla*, Ali Akanda, Avinash Unnikrishnan, Anwar Huq and Rita Colwell.
Full text: http://goo.gl/hxVoHu
Outbreaks of diarrheal diseases, including cholera, are related to floods and droughts in regions where water and sanitation infrastructure are inadequate or insufficient. However, availability of data on water scarcity and abundance in transnational basins, are a prerequisite for developing cholera forecasting systems. With more than a decade of terrestrial water storage (TWS) data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment, conditions favorable for predicting cholera occurrence may now be determined.