Sanitation/Feces Disposal

Access to Water and Sanitation for People Living with HIV and AIDS: An Exploratory Study

  • Source:
  • Nkongo D. 2009. AMREF Tanzania. WaterAid

  • Summary:
  • Water and sanitation needs of people living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) and the likely consequences of inadequate access to water by their households are often not explicitly identified, and integrated into HIV and AIDS interventions and water and sanitation sector programmes. There is a lack of clear arrangements on access to water and sanitation for PLHIV, some evidence of stigma, and overlapping interests between the water and sanitation sector and the HIV and AIDS sector, though not much cooperation between sectors in practice, or in harmonised hygiene promotion messages. Based on these findings, the study makes the following recommendations: water and sanitation programmes should develop strategic partnerships with other stakeholders such as those working on HIV and AIDS to address the most vulnerable including PLHIV and develop alternative strategies to ensure that vulnerable households have access to water and sanitation facilities. Common messages on water and sanitation hygiene should be developed and used by both water and sanitation programmes, and HIV and AIDS programmes to improve chances of message uptake.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal Stigma
  • Making the Links: Mapping the Relationship between Water, Hygiene and Sanitation, and HIV/AIDS: A Joint Think-Piece by WaterAid Ethiopia and Progynist

    • Source:
    • WaterAid. 2009. London, UK.

    • Summary:
    • Ethiopia, one of the poorest countries in the world, already facing numerous obstacles to overcoming this poverty, has in the last twenty years seen HIV/AIDS emerge as a huge threat to people’s lives, and a significant barrier to development. While everyone is vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, the people worst affected are those living in poor, overcrowded areas that lack adequate sanitary facilities, water supply, and medical care – and where family nutrition levels are low. This paper aims to focus on the links between hygiene, sanitation, and HIV/AIDS. Having a potable water supply and latrine close to one’s home is a basic human right that enables people to live healthier lives, free from the risks of water and sanitation-related illnesses; for a person living with HIV/AIDS access to water and sanitation facilities is especially critical, as the risks posed by poor facilities can be fatal for someone who has contracted the virus.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Evidence Base Handwashing (Hand Washing) Nutrition People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • Trials of Improved Practice: Determining Feasible Water and Feces Management Small Doable Actions for HIV Programs in Ethiopia. February 2009.

    • Source:
    • USAID & HIP. 2009.

    • Summary:
    • Summarizes trials of improved practices (TIPs) research conducted in Ethiopia to develop simple, feasible actions for use by home-based care workers for diarrhea and water management in households affected by HIV/AIDS.

  • Keywords:
  • Diarrheal Diseases Formative Research Home-Based Care Household Water Treatment & Storage Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal Small Doable Actions
  • Integration of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene into HIV Programs: Lessons from Malawi

    • Source:
    • Senefeld S, Powell A. 2009. Catholic Relief Services

    • Summary:
    • Adequate clean water, improved sanitation infrastructure, and better hygiene may significantly improve health outcomes for people living with HIV (PLHIV) in resource-poor settings. Catholic Relief Services Malawi, with support from the World Health Organization and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implemented a pilot project to identify household scale changes or actions that could improve WSH conditions for PLHIV. An evaluation showed substantial changes in six targeted behaviors and a reduction in the overall prevalence of diarrhea, suggesting that this is an effective approach to ameliorating WSH conditions for those affected by HIV.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Diarrheal Diseases Evaluations Formative Research Handwashing (Hand Washing) Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • Programming Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Activities in U.S. Government Country Operational Plans (COPs): A Toolkit for FY2010 Planning

    • Source:
    • HIP. 2008. Washington, DC. United States Agency for International Development.

    • Summary:
    • The toolkit was developed to provide people working in the HIV/AIDS field—especially USG PEPFAR Coordinators and USAID HIV field staff —with a set of flexible materials to raise their own understanding and help them facilitate better programming for WASH in PEPFAR Country Operational Plans. The aim is to help people at all levels to more effectively prevent diarrheal disease and other unnecessary illnesses, using simple, effective, low-input strategies that may have not been addressed by PEPFAR programs in the past. The emphasis of this programming guidance is to “mainstream” water, sanitation and hygiene interventions—to make them a regular part of all behavior change and education activities in HIV/AIDS programs.

  • Keywords:
  • Diarrheal Diseases Handwashing (Hand Washing) Household Water Treatment & Storage PEPFAR Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal Small Doable Actions Training Resources
  • Programming Guidance for Integrating Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Improvement into HIV/AIDS Programs to Reduce Diarrhea Morbidity (May 2008)

    • Source:
    • HIP. 2008. USAID

    • Summary:
    • Evidence is growing on the effectiveness of integrating safe water, hygiene, and sanitation interventions into HIV/AIDS programs, but little specific programming guidance exists. This document expands on an earlier August 2006 version with concrete guidance for implementers of HIV/AIDS care and support activities. USAID/HIP and the World Bank Water and Sanitation Program developed these recommendations through extensive consultations with HIV/AIDS and water sector researchers and program implementers and a broad review of the literature from different sectors.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Diarrheal Diseases Enabling Technologies Evidence Base Formative Research Handwashing (Hand Washing) Household Water Treatment & Storage People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) PEPFAR Programming Guidance Reports Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for People Living with HIV and AIDS

    • Source:
    • WSP. 2007. Washington DC, Water and Sanitation Program.

    • Summary:
    • People living with HIV and AIDS (PLHIV) require safe water, appropriate sanitation, and hygiene practices more than most, but time limitations, economic constraints, lack of household toilets, and water scarcity have been among the barriers to converting knowledge into practice. Although NGOs and networks of PLHIV have started incorporating messages on safe water and hygiene practices into their efforts, the communication is inconsistent and not always comprehensive. Having found limited field studies that document the connection between water, sanitation, hygiene, and HIV/ AIDS, The World Bank’s Water and Sanitation Program-South Asia conducted a study among a segment of PLHIV in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. The study was followed by national and state-level consultations to disseminate findings, build consensus, and develop strategies to mainstream water, sanitation, and hygiene safety messaging into care and support programs for PLHIV.

  • Keywords:
  • Evidence Base Handwashing (Hand Washing) Household Water Treatment & Storage People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • HIV/AIDS: Making the Links with WASH

    • Source:
    • IRC. 2007. Delft, IRC International.Water and Sanitation Centre.

    • Summary:
    • Strategies to care for people infected with HIV/AIDS and the correlation with water, sanitation and hygiene should be explored by asking questions such as: How does the family get water? Will there be any changes in the family’s water needs? If so, what might these be? What can be done to prolong the progression from HIV to AIDS? Exploring these questions, water, sanitation and hygiene needs of households affected by HIV/AIDS; links with home-based care and clinics for treatment, care and support; and the implications for policy makers, planners and health promoters, can be discussed together constructively.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Handwashing (Hand Washing) Healthcare Facilities Home-Based Care People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Policy Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • HIV/AIDS: Caring for HIV-Infected People in South Africa Requires Love, Patience and 200 Liters of Water Per Day

    • Source:
    • IRC. 2007. Newsletter, May 2007. Delft, IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre

    • Summary:
    • Home-based caregivers provide critical support for people who are HIV infected and ill in South Africa as in many other countries. However, their role is made more difficult by limited water supplies and in some cases by inadequate toilets. Limits on water supply also compromise the impact of health and hygiene education and promotion carried out by community health workers. Members of four local Home-Based Care (HBC) groups visit households with HIV infected people three times a week in this community. The caregivers undertake a wide range of activities, including fetching water, bathing patients, washing, laundry, digging pits for solid waste disposal, cleaning households and yards, assistance with access to social, health and other services, and providing counselling, information and support.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Evidence Base Home-Based Care People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) Sanitation/Feces Disposal
  • Water and Sanitation Assessment of Home-Based Care Clients in Malawi

    • Source:
    • Lockwood K et al. 2006. Baltimore, MD. Catholic Relief Services

    • Summary:
    • The assessment was commissioned by the WHO with the goal of producing evidence-based guidance on water and sanitation needs in home-based care strategies, particularly in resource-poor situations, and to lead to both practical and strategic recommendations at the programme and policy levels, while identifying the most critical measures to be taken by the health sector and the water and sanitation sector to provide short and medium-term solutions in the area of water, sanitation and hygiene support to home-based care. The findings indicate that the water and sanitation needs of HBC clients are severely unfulfilled. The already vulnerable HBC population is regularly falling ill due to diarrhea. Other illnesses and effects of poor water quality are also evident among the HBC clients. In addition, the HBC households are often required to travel long distances to their water sources, which is exceptionally difficult for ill clients.

  • Keywords:
  • Accessing Water Diarrheal Diseases Evidence Base Handwashing (Hand Washing) Home-Based Care Household Water Treatment & Storage Programming Guidance Sanitation/Feces Disposal