Hygiene behaviour: impact of village and household income in rural China

Cangjiang, Y. … [et al]. (2009). Effect of village income and household income on sanitation facilities, hygiene behaviours and child undernutrition during rapid economic growth in a rural cross border area, Yunnan, China. Journal of epidemiology and community health ; published online: 02 Feb 2009. doi:10.1136/jech.2008.078246

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to examine the effects of village income and household income on child nutrition status through basic sanitation and hygiene behaviours.

METHODS: A survey was conducted in a rural cross border area of Yunnan, China. Data on village income in 2002-2006 and household income in 2002-2007 were obtained from an official report and a household survey, respectively. Anthropometric measurement of the children aged 6 months to 5 years (n=1,801) was used to determine their nutrition status. Child caretakers were interviewed about household sanitation facilities and their hygiene behaviors using a structured questionnaire.

RESULTS: Households with incomes below the national poverty line decreased from 22% in 2002 to less than 8% in 2007. The coverage of safe drinking water and water-sealed latrines gradually increased but was still inadequate. The prevalence of stunting and underweight of children were 37% and 17.5%, respectively. Village income had a greater positive effect than household income on exclusive breast feeding, drinking boiled water, handwashing with soap, as well as, reducing in prevalence of stunting. Village income at one lag year had the greatest effect on availability of basic sanitation than other lag years, while household income had small but significant effect through all lag years.

CONCLUSIONS: Rapid economic growth is not always followed by improved child nutrition status. Village income has greater effect than household income on sanitation facilities, hygiene behaviors of caretakers, and child nutrition status.

Contact: Yang Cangjiang, Yunnan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, China, ycj99 [at] hotmail.com

Community-based bacteriological study of quality of drinking-water and its feedback, Western Maharashtra, India

A Tambe, P.V. … [et al.] (2008). Community-based bacteriological study of quality of drinking-water and its feedback to a rural community in Western Maharashtra, India.  Journal of health, population and nutrition ; vol. 26, no. 2 ; p. 139 – 150. Download here

Abstract

A longitudinal study of the bacteriological quality of rural water supplies was undertaken for a movement towards self-help against diseases, such as diarrhoea, and improved water management through increased community participation. Three hundred and thirteen water samples from different sources, such as well, tank, community standpost, handpumps, percolation lakes, and streams, and from households were collected from six villages in Maharashtra, India, over a one-year period. Overall, 49.8% of the 313 samples were polluted, whereas 45.9% of the samples from piped water supply were polluted. The quality of groundwater was generally good compared to open wells. Irregular and/or inadequate treatment of water, lack of drainage systems, and domestic washing near the wells led to deterioration in the quality of water. No major diarrhoeal epidemics were recorded during the study, although a few sporadic cases were noted during the rainy season. As a result of a continuous feedback of bacteriological findings to the community, perceptions of the people changed with time. An increased awareness was observed through active participation of the people cutting across age-groups and different socioeconomic strata of the society in village activities.

Contact: Dr. Nerges F. Mistry, Foundation for Medical Research, Mumbai 400 018, India, fmrbom@hathway.com or fmr@fmrindia.org, Fax: (+91 22) 2493 2876

Making sustainable water and sanitation in the Peruvian Andes: an intervention model

Campos, M. (2008). Making sustainable water and sanitation in the Peruvian Andes: an intervention model. Journal of water and health ; vol. 6, no. S1 ; p. s27-s31. doi: 10.2166/wh.2008.00034

Sustainability of water supplies in remote rural communities is problematic and resource consuming. CARE has a long history of working hand in hand with remote rural communities and devising programs tailored to their needs. We present here an intervention that integrates development of water supplies and sanitation, with operation and maintenance skills development and training of health promoters that can educate from within the community that ensures the sustainability of drinking water supply systems in rural communities. The training used is innovative in that it uses a series of video-workshops which are found to be particularly useful in communities with high illiteracy rates.