Determinants of infant mortality in community of Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Southwest Ethiopia

May 2, 2013 · 0 comments

BMC Public Health. 2013 Apr 27;13(1):401.

Determinants of infant mortality in community of Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Southwest Ethiopia: a matched case control study.

Dube L, Taha M, Asefa H.

BACKGROUND: Infant mortality accounts for almost 67 percent of under-five child mortality that occurs globally. An understanding of factors related to infant mortality is important to guide the development of focused and evidence-based health interventions to reduce infant deaths. But no community based studies have been conducted to identify determinants of infant mortality in Ethiopia for the past two decades. The purpose of this study is to identify determinants of infant mortality in community of Gilgel Gibe Field Research Center, Southwest Ethiopia.

METHODS: A community based matched case–control study was conducted. The study covered 133 infants who died during infancy between January 2010 and February 2011 in the study area. For each case, a control with approximately same date of birth and survived his/her first year of live and alive at time data collection was selected. Conditional logistic regression method was used to identify determinant factors of infant mortality using Epi-info 3.5.1 statistical software.

RESULTS: According to the final logistic regression model, not attending antenatal care follow-up [AOR=2.04, 95%CI:(1.04,4.02)], not using soap for hand washing before feeding child [AOR=2.50, 95%CI (1.32,4.76)], negative perceived benefits of mother to modern treatment and prevention [AOR=2.76, 95%CI:(1.21,6.09)], small birth size [AOR=2.91, 95%CI:(1.01,8.46)] and high birth order with short birth interval [AOR=3.80, 95%CI:(1.20,11.98)] were found to be independent determinants of infant mortality.

CONCLUSIONS: Antenatal care follow-up, hand washing habit with soap before feeding child, birth size, perceived benefits of mothers to modern treatment, birth order and preceding birth interval were determinants of infant mortality.

Long-Term Field Performance of Biosand Filters in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti

May 2, 2013 · 0 comments

Am Jnl Trop Med & Hygiene, Feb 2013

Long-Term Field Performance of Biosand Filters in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti

Andrew J. Sisson, Peter J. Wampler, Richard R. Rediske, James N. McNair and Daniel J. Frobish

A field study assessing the sustainability and efficacy of 55 biosand filters installed during 1999–2010 was conducted in the Artibonite Valley, Haiti during 2011. Twenty-nine filters were still in use. Duration of filter use ranged from < 1 to 12 years. Water quality, microbial analysis, and flow rate were evaluated for each functioning filter. Kaplan-Meier analysis of filter lifespans showed that filter use remained high (> 85%) up to seven years after installation. Several filters were still in use after 12 years, which is longer than documented in any previous study.

Filtered water from 25 filters (86%) contained Escherichia coli concentrations of < 10 most probable number of coliforms/100 mL. Recontamination of stored filtered water was negligible. Bacterial removal efficiency was 1.1 log10. Comparable results from previous studies in the same region and elsewhere show that biosand filter technology continues to be an effective and sustainable water treatment method in developing countries worldwide.

Household Environmental Conditions Are Associated with Enteropathy and Impaired Growth in Rural Bangladesh

May 2, 2013 · 0 comments

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Apr 29.

Household Environmental Conditions Are Associated with Enteropathy and Impaired Growth in Rural Bangladesh.

Lin A, Arnold BF, Afreen S, Goto R, Huda TM, Haque R, Raqib R, Unicomb L, Ahmed T, Colford JM Jr, Luby SP.

Abstract - We assessed the relationship of fecal environmental contamination and environmental enteropathy. We compared markers of environmental enteropathy, parasite burden, and growth in 119 Bangladeshi children (≤ 48 months of age) across rural Bangladesh living in different levels of household environmental cleanliness defined by objective indicators of water quality and sanitary and hand-washing infrastructure.

Adjusted for potential confounding characteristics, children from clean households had 0.54 SDs (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.06, 1.01) higher height-for-age z scores (HAZs), 0.32 SDs (95% CI = -0.72, 0.08) lower lactulose:mannitol (L:M) ratios in urine, and 0.23 SDs (95% CI = -0.63, 0.17) lower immunoglobulin G endotoxin core antibody (IgG EndoCAb) titers than children from contaminated households.

After adjusting for age and sex, a 1-unit increase in the ln L:M was associated with a 0.36 SDs decrease in HAZ (95% CI = -0.64, -0.07). These results are consistent with the hypothesis that environmental contamination causes growth faltering mediated through environmental enteropathy.

USAID Water Development Strategy 2013-2018

April 24, 2013 · 0 comments

USAID Water Development Strategy 2013-2018. USAID.

To address global water­ related development needs, this Strat­egy provides an increased focus for USAID’s water programs that is sustainable,works through host country systems,uses emerging science and technology, and learns from past efforts. 

The goal of this Strategy is:

To save lives and advance develop­ment through improvements in water supply, sanitation,and hygiene (WASH) programs, and through sound management and use of water for food security. To achieve this goal, the Strategy sets two strategic objectives(SOs):

SO1) Improve health outcomes through the provision of sustain­able WASH. This will be achieved through a continued focus on providing safe water,an increased emphasis on sanitation,and support for programs that can be brought to scale and be sus­tained. Based on previously requested funding levels,USAID projects providing a minimum of 10 million persons with sustain­able access to improved water supply and 6 million persons with sustainable access to improved sanitation over the next five years.

SO2) Manage water for agriculture sustainably and more pro­ductively to enhance food security. This will be achieved through increased emphasis on more efficient use of rainfall and improved efficiency and management of existing irrigation sys­tems including private and farmer­ owned micro ­irrigation systems. The Strategy recognizes that the greatest and most cost ­effective potential for crop yield increases are in rainfed areas. USAID will focus on increasing irrigated agriculture in select countries, including expanding irrigation in a responsible, sustainable, and climate resilient way.

Bacterial Contamination on Household Toys and Association with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Conditions in Honduras

April 23, 2013 · 0 comments

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2013, 10(4), 1586-1597; doi:10.3390/ijerph10041586

Bacterial Contamination on Household Toys and Association with Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Conditions in Honduras

Christine E. Stauber 1,* , Adam Walters 2,† , Anna M. Fabiszewski de Aceituno 3,† and Mark D. Sobsey 2
1 Institute of Public Health, Georgia State University, P.O. Box 3995, Atlanta, GA 30302, USA
2 Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Campus Box 7431, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
3 Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 6000K Claudia Nance Rollins Building, 1518 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

Abstract: There is growing evidence that household water treatment interventions improve microbiological water quality and reduce diarrheal disease risk. Few studies have examined, however, the impact of water treatment interventions on household-level hygiene and sanitation. This study examined the association of four water and sanitation conditions (access to latrines, improved sanitation, improved water and the plastic biosand filter) on the levels of total coliforms and E. coli on existing and introduced toys during an on-going randomized controlled trial of the plastic biosand filter (plastic BSF). The following conditions were associated with decreased bacterial contamination on children’s toys: access to a latrine, access to improved sanitation and access to the plastic BSF. Overall, compared to existing toys, introduced toys had significantly lower levels of both E. coli and total coliforms.

Results suggest that levels of fecal indicator bacteria contamination on children’s toys may be associated with access to improved water and sanitation conditions in the home. In addition, the fecal indicator bacteria levels on toys probably vary with duration in the household. Additional information on how these toys become contaminated is needed to determine the usefulness of toys as indicators or sentinels of water, sanitation and hygiene conditions, behaviors and risks.

Genomic copy concentrations of selected waterborne viruses in a slum environment in Kampala, Uganda

April 23, 2013 · 0 comments

Journal of Water and Health, Apr 2013|doi:10.2166/wh.2013.184

Genomic copy concentrations of selected waterborne viruses in a slum environment in Kampala, Uganda

A. Y. Katukiza, H. Temanu, J. W. Chung, J. W. A. Foppen and P. N. L. Lens

Department of Environmental Engineering and Water Technology, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, P.O. BOX 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands E-mail: a.katukiza@unesco-ihe.org; akatukiza@yahoo.com
Department of Water Science and Engineering, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, P.O. BOX 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands
Department of Environmental Resources, UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, P.O. BOX 3015, 2601 DA Delft, The Netherlands

The presence of viruses in a slum environment where sanitation is poor is a major concern. However, little is known of their occurrence and genomic copy concentration in the slum environment. The main objective of this study was to determine the genomic copy concentrations of human adenoviruses F and G, Rotavirus (RV), Hepatitis A virus (HAV), Hepatitis E virus (HEV) and human adenovirus species A,C,D,E, and F (HAdV-ACDEF) in Bwaise III, a typical slum in Kampala, Uganda. Forty-one samples from surface water, grey water and ground water were collected from 30 sampling locations. The virus particles were recovered by glass wool filtration with elution using beef extract. DNA and RNA viruses were detected by the real time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and the reverse transcriptase-qPCR (RT-qPCR), respectively.

HAdV-F and G were detected in 70.7% of the samples with concentrations up to 2.65 × 101 genomic copies per mL (gc mL−1). RV and HAV were detected in 60.9 and 17.1% of the samples, respectively. The maximum concentration of RV was 1.87 × 102gc mL−1. In addition, 78% of the samples tested positive for the HAdV-ACDEF, but all samples tested negative for HEV. These new data are essential for quantitative microbial risk assessment, and for understanding the effects of environmental pollution in slums.

CARE Water + Impact Report: Walking the Walk

April 19, 2013 · 0 comments

CARE Water + Impact Report: Walking the Walk, 2013.

CARE.

Summary – CARE has provided water+ services to developing countries for over 55 years and is currently working on more than 180 such projects in over 40 countries. Throughout the years CARE has focused on both emergency response and long-term development; recently the organization has emphasized building the capacity of local institutions, strengthening community-led water resource management (WRM) and total sanitation, and adopting an integrated water resource management (IWRM) approach. 

PROGRESS AGAINST OUR THEORY OF CHANGE
In 2010 CARE USA’s water team developed a theory of change for our work in water. Our theory of change has been used as a measure of activities leading to impact in this report; however, a theory of change is one of many guides to understanding change and we are fully aware of its limitations. This report is based on a review of 51 reports, mostly mid-term or final evaluations dated between 2006 and 2012. A scoring tool was developed to score the reports against the three domains of the water+1 theory of change.

Domain 1: Secure and Sustainable Access to Water+ Services
Programming focused on provision of water, sanitation and access to hygiene facilities. On the whole CARE demonstrated excellent work in water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), WRM and multiple uses of water; however, improvements are needed to strengthen sustainability and collaboration approaches. The mostcommon criticism of CARE’s programming was a lack of sustainability, many times caused by Inattentiveness to supportive factors such as access to supply chains or qualified technicians for repair. One evaluation showed the effects of CARE’s training had almost vanished 8 years after project completion.

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Entrepreneurship for Rural Women, Brought to You by Coca Cola

April 9, 2013 · 0 comments

Entrepreneurship for Rural Women, Brought to You by Coca Cola | Source: Kay Koplovitz, Huffington Post, Apr 9, 2013 |

Women living in rural areas of Africa and India are getting a boost into entrepreneurship by Coca Cola’s Mutar Kent teaming up with inventor Dean Kamen to distribute clean water distillers.

At the Women in the World Conference, chairman and CEO of the Coca-Cola Company Muhtar Kent committed to the distribution of the distiller, called Slingshot, to African women in rural areas. The Slingshot can produce clean water from any fetid source for about one penny per gallon.

Women will become the small business entrepreneurs and operators who will be able to sell the water to villagers. The bonus is that the distiller also produces electricity that can be used to power cell phones and lights, another revenue stream for the budding entrepreneurs. This program is part of the commitment Coca Cola made to UN Women in 2011 when Kent announced the 5 BY 20 Initiative. This program aims to lift into business 5 million women-run small businesses by 2020. To date, they have achieved 350 of these startups.

I was first introduced to the Slingshot at Singularity University, where Dean Kamen presented the distiller model he had been working on for almost 14 years. He presented the results of a pilot test run in Calcutta, India, that demonstrated the utility and simple operating system that could be implemented by people with no education or previous experience enabling them to become entrepreneurs. The simplicity of the distiller that can generate clean water from almost any refuse or combustible material really impressed me.

The Slingshot is one of more than 440 patents and devices invented by the prolific Kamen. As successful as he is at inventing medical and clean energy devices, one of his proudest initiatives is FIRST, the remarkable robot competition in which junior high and high school kids compete to build robots, all using the same basic box of supplied tools. In 2012, 350,000 kids competed.

This Slingshot distribution program is remarkable proof that corporations can drive innovation, contribute to the communities they serve and activate double bottom line results. Undoubtedly, Kent sees this initiative in the best interest of his company for it is likely he is counting on these women to become distributors of other products from Coke in the future. I am a strong believer in sustainable social entrepreneurship, and this program is meant to be just that. It will be sustainable as it lifts new consumers from rural areas in Africa and India into budding consumers. It’s just great business.

Drinking water quality and source reliability in rural Ashanti region, Ghana

April 3, 2013 · 1 comment

Journal of Water and Health Vol 11 No 1 pp 161–172, 2013 doi:10.2166/wh.2013.104

Drinking water quality and source reliability in rural Ashanti region, Ghana

Meghan Arnold, James A. VanDerslice, Brooke Taylor, Scott Benson, Sam Allen, Mark Johnson, Joe Kiefer, Isaac Boakye, Bernard Arhinn, Benjamin T. Crookston and Daniel Ansong

Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of Utah, 375 Chipeta Way, Suite A, Salt Lake City, UT 84108, USA E-mail: jim.vanderslice@utah.edu
Research and Development Unit, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, PO Box 1934, Kumasi, Ghana
Department of Health Science, Brigham Young University, 221 RB, Provo, UT, 84602, USA
Department of Child Health, School of Medical Sciences, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
†Deceased

ABSTRACT
Site-specific information about local water sources is an important part of a community-driven effort to improve environmental conditions. The purpose of this assessment was to gather this information for residents of rural villages in Ghana. Sanitary surveys and bacteriological testing for total coliforms and Escherichia coli (EC) using Colilert® were conducted at nearly 80 water sources serving eight villages. A focus group was carried out to assess the desirability and perceived quality of water sources.

Standpipes accounted for almost half of the available water sources; however, a third of them were not functioning at the time of the survey. EC bacteria were found in the majority of shallow wells (80%), rivers (67%), and standpipes (61%), as well as 28% of dug wells. Boreholes were free of EC. Residents felt that the standpipes and boreholes produced safe drinking water.

Intermittent service and poor water quality from the piped supply has led to limited access to drinking water. The perception of residents, that the water from standpipes is clean and does not need to be treated at home, is particularly troubling in light of the poor bacteriological quality of water from the standpipes.

Behaviour change for better health: nutrition, hygiene and sustainability

April 3, 2013 · 0 comments

BMC Public Health. 2013 Mar 21;13 Suppl 1:S1. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-S1-S1.

Behaviour change for better health: nutrition, hygiene and sustainability.

Newson RS, Lion R, Crawford RJ, Curtis V, Elmadfa I, Feunekes GI, Hicks C, van Liere M, Lowe CF, Meijer GW, Pradeep B, Reddy KS, Sidibe M,Uauy R.

Unilever Research and Development, Olivier van Noortlaan 120, 3133 AT Vlaardingen, the Netherlands.

As the global population grows there is a clear challenge to address the needs of consumers, without depleting natural resources and whilst helping to improve nutrition and hygiene to reduce the growth of noncommunicable diseases. For fast-moving consumer goods companies, like Unilever, this challenge provides a clear opportunity to reshape its business to a model that decouples growth from a negative impact on natural resources and health. However, this change in the business model also requires a change in consumer behaviour.

In acknowledgement of this challenge Unilever organised a symposium entitled ‘Behaviour Change for Better Health: Nutrition, Hygiene and Sustainability’. The intention was to discuss how consumers can be motivated to live a more healthy and sustainable lifestlye in today’s environment. This article summarises the main conclusions of the presentations given at the symposium. Three main topics were discussed. In the first session, key experts discussed how demographic changes – particularly in developing and emerging countries – imply the need for consumer behaviour change. The second session focused on the use of behaviour change theory to design, implement and evaluate interventions, and the potential role of (new or reformulated) products as agents of change. In the final session, key issues were discussed regarding the use of collaborations to increase the impact and reach, and to decrease the costs, of interventions.

The symposium highlighted a number of key scientific challenges for Unilever and other parties that have set nutrition, hygiene and sustainability as key priorities. The key challenges include: adapting behaviour change approaches to cultures in developing and emerging economies; designing evidence-based behaviour change interventions, in which products can play a key role as agents of change; and scaling up behaviour change activities in cost-effective ways, which requires a new mindset involving public-private partnerships.

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