Drinking-Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Beyond the Household: A Global Review and a Situational Assessment of Ghana

Public Deposited

Analytics

Last Modified

Creator

Cronk, Ryan David
- Affiliation: Gillings School of Global Public Health, Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering

Abstract

Extra-household settings are in consideration for drinking-water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) targets in the post-2015 development agenda but evidence gaps impair monitoring, policy, and practice. We systematically reviewed literature to develop a typology, evaluate standards, identify actors, assess evidence, and catalog monitoring initiatives. A situational assessment of Ghana identified specific national challenges. Schools and health facilities have the most support from actors, evidence for benefits, and standards defined. From available data in developing countries, we estimate that WaSH monitoring initiatives for schools exist in approximately 70 countries, 30 countries for health facilities, and fewer than 20 countries for all other settings combined. We found limited evidence describing benefits of WaSH or the impact of poor WaSH conditions in most settings. While not all countries conduct extra-household monitoring, examples are available on most continents suggesting that the establishment of a global monitoring system is achievable.

Date of publication