End the Neglect

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Archive for the ‘Water and Sanitation’ category

Common Ground: Dialogue between the NTD and WASH sectors, for World Water Day and beyond

March 22nd, 2012

The author talking with rural community members in Rwanda to locate community water sources. (Credit: S. Ogden)

By Stephanie Ogden, WASH/NTD Consultant, Emory’s Center for Global Safe Water, Children Without Worms, International Trachoma Initiative

2012 marks my tenth year celebrating World Water Day. I’ve worked in and with the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) sector since my time as a Peace Corps volunteer in rural El Salvador almost a decade ago. Since that time, I’ve worked with many organizations in Latin America, Africa and Central Asia helping to improve rural access to water and sanitation in order to promote health and encourage long-term development. I continue to work in the WASH sector, and this year, I have the opportunity to experience my tenth World Water Day from the point of view of an advocate for the neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) sector.

This opportunity is the result of a new partnership between Emory University’s Center for Global Safe Water, Children Without Worms (CWW) and the International Trachoma Initiative (ITI). These three organizations have committed to a partnership that will encourage actionable dialogue and increased coordination between the NTD and WASH sectors. In my role as WASH/NTD consultant, my objective is to find ways to bridge the gap between these two sectors and identify opportunities for collaboration.

The London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases in January provided an important catalyst for dialogue. The Declaration solidified a global public-private partnership to eliminate or control 10 neglected tropical diseases by 2020. By calling for the development of sustainable control programs for these diseases, the NTD sector has effectively pledged commitment to work towards elimination or control of 10 NTDS. » Read more: Common Ground: Dialogue between the NTD and WASH sectors, for World Water Day and beyond

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Posted in NTDs, WASH, Water and Sanitation

Handwashing: Is it really all that simple?

October 15th, 2011

Happy Global Handwashing Day! Today we feature a piece authored by Kerry Gallo of Children Without Worms:

By: Kerry Gallo, Children Without Worms

Since joining Children Without Worms (CWW) earlier this year, I’ve spent most of my time thinking about neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)—in particular, intestinal worms in kids, and how deworming medications like albendazole and mebendazole can make kids healthy. But last week, I had the opportunity to step out of the NTD space and into the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) world for a few days by attending the Water and Health: Where Science Meets Policy Conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

I’ve written before about the importance of partnerships between the NTD and WASH sectors. CWW advocates for the WASHED Framework (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Education and Deworming) as a comprehensive strategy for prevention and treatment of intestinal worms. Our role is to partner with drug companies to coordinate the donations of deworming medications, such as albendazole from GlaxoSmithKline and mebendazole from Johnson & Johnson. But since we are not WASH program implementers, we turn to our partners to complement deworming with the administration of hygiene education and improvements to water and sanitation infrastructure.

It was in the role of partner and advocate for WASHED that I attended the conference and met with many colleagues representing various WASH organizations. One event that was discussed with excitement was Global Handwashing Day.

Handwashing—what could be more simple? It seems like such an incredibly basic activity to us, but for kids in low resource settings around the world, it may not be so simple. » Read more: Handwashing: Is it really all that simple?

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Posted in Water and Sanitation

Tags: Children Without Worms Global Handwashing Day WASH WASHED Water and Sanitation

Reading List 9/22/2011

September 22nd, 2011

Check out the latest in global health and NTD news with the today’s End the Neglect reading list! Today we’re reading about:

Distribution of filariasis tablets begins
“The Fiji government has announced it will be distributing anti filariasis tablets again in an effort to eliminate the disease in the country. The 2011 Mass Drug Administration (MDA) will begin next week Monday. The tablets will also be available at Health Centres and Nursing Stations in the Central, Eastern and Northern divisions. Ministry of Health spokeswoman Priscilla Govind said the Central Eastern and Northern divisions will undergo a further (9th) round of MDA scheduled for 26th September to 7th October.”

Johnson & Johnson Makes Strong Progress in First Year of Initiative to Improve Health of Millions of Women and Children in the Developing World
” … Since its launch last September, Johnson & Johnson has laid a strong foundation for measurable impact in several areas toward Every Woman, Every Child, the United Nations’ Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health to reduce mortality in women and children by 2015, including: expanding health information for mothers over mobile phones, helping to increase the number of safe births, doubling donations of treatments for intestinal worms in children … Johnson & Johnson more than doubled its donation of mebendazole, a treatment for intestinal worms in children, through its Children Without Worms program, up from 36 million doses in 2010 to 80 million doses by the end of 2011. The Company plans to continue to expand this program to distribute 200 million doses each year in 30 to 40 countries by 2015.”

Award-Winning LifeStraw® Water Filter Makes North American Retail Debut
“The award-winning LifeStraw® personal water filter is now available to consumers in the U.S. and Canada for the first time. The portable filter—used since 2005 amid harsh conditions in developing countries—removes bacteria and parasites from water, and is ideal for outdoor activities, overseas travel, and emergency preparedness. LifeStraw® is an elegantly simple but technologically advanced innovation. The filtering tube measures about nine inches long and one inch in diameter, and weighs less than two ounces. It removes virtually all bacteria (99.9999 percent) and protozoa parasites (99.9 percent) that can contaminate water, and it reduces turbidity (muddiness) by filtering out particulate matter.”

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Posted in Maternal Health, MDA, Water and Sanitation

Tags: Fiji filariasis Johnson & Johnson LifeStraw Mass Drug Administration

More from World Water Week 2011

September 7th, 2011

World Water Week 2011 took place this past summer August 21 – 26 2011 in Stockholm, Sweden. The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases along with our Latin America and Caribbean water initiative partners — the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and FEMSA Foundation — had our very own session during the conference entitled “Focus Latin America and the Caribbean: Fighting Poverty in Latin America: Integrating Water and Health Initiatives.” Panelists convened to take in-depth look at NTDs in Latin America and the Caribbean, and to discuss promising strategies to sustainably reduce the burden of NTDs within the region. Below are photos from the session:

Our booth during the event.

Panelists (from left to right): Ann Kelly, Partner, Global Philanthropy Group and The Global Water Initiative of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, Vidal Garza Cantú, Director, FEMSA Foundation, Neeraj Mistry, Managing Director, Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Carlos de Paco, Operations Lead Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank, and Moderator Gian-Carlo Ochoa, Board Member, Charity Water.