Tag Archives: Water and Sanitation

Handwashing: Is it really all that simple?

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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. Continue reading →

More from World Water Week 2011

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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.

Group photo with Global Network Managing Director Dr. Neeraj Mistry and event participants.

Safe Water Practices can Help Prevent and Control NTDs

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By: Kerry Gallo, Children Without Worms

World Water Week in Stockholm presents an opportunity for those of us working in the field of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) to communicate a clear and unified message to the water sector: by working together, we can make a difference in the lives of millions of people around the world.

Treatment through preventive chemotherapy alone does not break the transmission cycle of many NTDs. Many require environmental improvements to water and sanitation systems coupled with behavior change to promote lasting effects on the health of communities. Effective control strategies for several NTDs such as soil-transmitted helminthiasis (STH), trachoma, and schistosomiasis require that communities have access to water and latrines to break the cycle of infection.

Photo courtesy of USAID

Washing foods and hands with soap and water is a critical barrier against infection from STH and other parasitic worm infections. Face-washing to cleanse the eyes of infectious discharge that attracts disease-carrying flies and washing soiled clothing and bedding prevent the spread of bacteria that cause blinding trachoma. Preventing children and adults from swimming, washing clothes, and collecting water in contaminated streams by providing a source of clean water breaks the transmission cycle of schistosomiasis.  In addition, patients suffering from lymphedema, caused by lymphatic filariasis, are encouraged to wash their limbs regularly to prevent infections. Behaviors and actions such as these are needed to prevent infection and morbidity, but in communities where water is scarce and every drop is precious, none will be used for handwashing, bathing, or cleaning if it means going thirsty instead. In communities where water is contaminated and no other sources of water are available, people are left with little choice but to risk infection in order to carry out their daily tasks. Continue reading →

Community, Collaboration and Commitment

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Drop in the Bucket is a California-based charity that builds wells and sanitation systems at large rural schools in sub-Saharan Africa. Below is an excerpt taken from Drop in the Bucket Director Stacey Travis’ blog –Water in Africa: the view from the ground:

By: Stacey Travis, Drop in the Bucket Director

We will never make any headway in the battle against Neglected Tropical Diseases if we don’t address the issue of sustainability.  The word is becoming so overused these days that it seems to be losing some of its impact and importance. The truth is if you are providing clean water sources without considering the long-term success of the facility, you run the risk of doing more harm than good.

Take boreholes for example. This mechanism used to extract clean water is provided to community through outside funding and resources. Boreholes are great tools to provide access to clean water, however, they need maintenance over time. Over the past few years, I have seen a staggering number of broken and abandoned boreholes. This is the dirty secret that nobody wants to talk about.  It’s almost as if organizations see it as some sort of failure on their part if their hand pumps don’t work forever, but that’s not where the failure lies. Continue reading →