India, Bengaluru: the business of the honey-suckers

Indigenously developed honey sucker in Bengaluru (Bangalore), south India. Photo: Vishwanath Sankrathai

A new IRC paperexplores some contributions being made by honey-sucker tanker operators — that renders a small-scale sanitation service informally and within the private sector — on waste (faecal) extraction and, in some cases, reuse. Operating outside the legal framework of waste management, this paper provides preliminary insight into the limitations and potentials of the ‘honey-sucker business’ as a sanitation service model, based on selected experiences in Bengaluru (India).

Asia: reducing lost water could bring water to millions

Millions of people in Asia and the Pacific could have access to clean water if leaks were plugged and water utility reforms adopted, says a new study by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

“By cutting the amount of lost water in half, 150 million people could be supplied with treated water”, said ADB’s Vice President for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development Bindu Lohani.
ADB estimates that 29 billion cubic meters of water is lost each year in the region, causing Asia’s water utilities to lose more than US$ 9 billion in revenue each year.

The ADB study, which showcases eight of the best-performing water utilities [2] in Asia, shows that current unaccounted for water (UFW) levels in the region of up to 60%, can be brought down to less than 20%. Phnom Penh even managed to lower its UFW level to just 6% in 2008.

Good Practices: The Success Framework for Urban Water Utilities. Source: ADB publication “Good Practices in Urban Water Management”

The study developed a Good Practices Success Framework (see figure above) with seven key elements that urban water utilities need to address. Regarding one of these elements, empowering the poor, the study notes that each of the eight water agencies studied provided some kind of subsidy for obtaining a water connection and, in deserving cases, for the use of water as well.

[1] Chiplunkar, A., Seetharam Kallidaikurichi and Tan Cheon Kheong (eds), 2012. Good practices in urban water management : decoding good practices for a successful future. Mandaluyong City, Philippines: Asian Development Bank. xx, 206 p. Available at: < http://www.adb.org/publications/good-practices-urban-water-management>

[2] Bangkok, Thailand; Colombo, Sri Lanka; Jamshedpur, India; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Manila, Philippines; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China; and Singapore.

Related news: Higher water tariffs are associated with lower water loss, E-Source, 06 Dec 2011

Related web site: World Bank – Urban Water

Source: ADB, 03 Jul 2012

Bangladesh: the effect of cord cleansing on neonatal mortality in rural areas

The Lancet, Early Online Publication, 8 February 2012

The effect of cord cleansing with chlorhexidine on neonatal mortality in rural Bangladesh: a community-based, cluster-randomised trial

• Full-text

Shams El Arifeen DrPH, et al.

Background – Up to half of neonatal deaths in high mortality settings are due to infections, many of which can originate through the freshly cut umbilical cord stump. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of two cord-cleansing regimens with the promotion of dry cord care in the prevention of neonatal mortality.

Design – We did a community-based, parallel cluster-randomised trial in Sylhet, Bangladesh. We divided the study area into 133 clusters, which were randomly assigned to one of the two chlorhexidine cleansing regimens (single cleansing as soon as possible after birth; daily cleansing for 7 days after birth) or promotion of dry cord care. Randomisation was done by use of a computer-generated sequence, stratified by cluster-specific participation in a previous trial. All livebirths were eligible; those visited within 7 days by a local female village health worker trained to deliver the cord care intervention were enrolled. We did not mask study workers and participants to the study interventions. Our primary outcome was neonatal mortality (within 28 days of birth) per 1000 livebirths, which we analysed on an intention-to-treat basis. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00434408.

Results – Between June, 2007, and September, 2009, we enrolled 29 760 newborn babies (10 329, 9423, and 10 008 in the multiple-cleansing, single-cleansing, and dry cord care groups, respectively). Neonatal mortality was lower in the single-cleansing group (22·5 per 1000 livebirths) than it was in the dry cord care group (28·3 per 1000 livebirths; relative risk [RR] 0·80 [95% CI] 0·65—0·98). Neonatal mortality in the multiple-cleansing group (26·6 per 1000 livebirths) was not statistically significantly lower than it was in the dry cord care group (RR 0·94 [0·78—1·14]). Compared with the dry cord care group, we recorded a statistically significant reduction in the occurrence of severe cord infection (redness with pus) in the multiple-cleansing group (risk per 1000 livebirths=4·2 vs risk per 1000 livebirths=1·2; RR 0·35 [0·15—0·81]) but not in the single-cleansing group (risk per 1000 livebirths=3·3; RR 0·77 [0·40—1·48]).

Interpretation – Chlorhexidine cleansing of a neonate’s umbilical cord can save lives, but further studies are needed to establish the best frequency with which to deliver the intervention.

Viet Nam: research-based campaign messaging is critical for sustaining handwashing behaviour change

Using data from formative research to focus messaging on mothers’ aspirations for their children and fine-tuning activities based on feedback from the field and household survey data have been key to developing and implementing a handwashing with soap behavior change program in Vietnam.

A new Learning Note, Vietnam: A Handwashing Behavior Change Journey for the Caretakers’ Program published by the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP), describes the steps that were taken to design, implement, and monitor the program to aid program managers in developing other handwashing and hygiene promotion efforts.

Working closely with the Woman’s Union, the program’s activities in Vietnam reached 540 communes in 10 provinces. The project also trained more than 15,000 community motivators who reached more than 1.76 million women through interpersonal communications activities. As the Learning Note reports, these activities evolved over time based on information from the monitoring systems.

“As the target audiences move beyond knowledge to intention to handwash with soap, behavior change messages must also be modified,” the report found, adding that as the project progressed, opportunities arose to “fine-tune the interpersonal communications activities based on feedback from the field and from the household monitoring data.”

Philippines: toolbox for rural water utilities launched

The Philippines and the World Bank have created the Rural Water Supply (RWS) manual for small-scale providers. Photo: Department of Interior & Local Government(DILG).

The Philippine government – together with the World Bank, the United Nations through the Millennium Development Goal Achievement Fund (MDG-F) and other development partners – have launched a ‘local water governance toolbox’. The toolbox is aimed at small-scale water service providers (SSWPs) with less than 5,000 connections.

Otherwise known as “Tubig Yaman,” this new set of manuals and knowledge products on water and sanitation was unveiled at the ‘Water Knowledge Fair’ held in Manila in celebration of World Water Day. The manuals present a coherent set of guidelines that hopefully will help overcome operational difficulties and sustainability issues, which occur due to flaws in design assumptions, deficiencies in construction, and poor knowledge on operation and maintenance.

Asia: leadership for sanitation needed at both central and local level

The responsibility for sanitation in Asia is fragmented over different agencies, and in most cases the priority given to sanitation is low. Therefore more leadership and political will is needed to make sure that organisational structures function, that plans with good intentions become a reality on the ground and that resources go to the right places. While leadership for sanitation is needed at all levels, it’s most urgent at sub national level, in districts and provinces, because it’s there where the actions take place.

This is the outcome of an email discussion [1] of the WASH Asia Dgroup platform held from 9 August to 9 September 2011. The discussion was moderated by the SNV Asia knowledge network and IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre, and involved 120 WASH practitioners from 5 different countries in Asia.

Sri Lanka: government sponsors monthly newspaper insert on water conservation

Lake House Chairman Bandula Padmakumara presenting the Randiya tabloid to Water Supply and Drainage Deputy Minister Nirupama Rajapaksa. Editorial Director Seelaratna Senarath is also in the picture. Photo: Dinamina

The Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage has launched the Randiya tabloid paper to raise public awareness on water conservation. Randiya will be published every third Wednesday as an insert in the Dinamina newspaper published by Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (ANCL), also known as Lake House.

Related web site: Sri Lanka – Ministry of Water Supply and Drainage

Source: Priyanka Kurugala, Daily News, 24 Nov 2011

Viet Nam: Integrating sanitation marketing into a national program

Nguyen, H.H. (2011). Integrating sanitation marketing into a national program : a case study in Vietnam. Brisbane, QLD, Australia, International Water Centre.
Read the full report

Supply-driven approaches to rural sanitation in Viet Nam, with associated toilet subsidies, have had little success over the last decade. Since 2003, International Development Enterprises (IDE) Vietnam has achieved better results in several pilots with an alternative approach involving rural sanitation marketing. As a result, the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) has supported IDE in collaboration with the Health Environment Agency of the Ministry of Health (MOH) (HEMA) to implement a rural sanitation marketing pilot project within the National Target Program II (NTP II) program in Quang Tri province since 2010. This report  provides an analysis of the potential as well as the constraints for integrating sanitation marketing into NTP II.

Vanuatu and Fiji: gender in WASH case studies

The outputs of the the project “Researching Gender Aspects of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Projects with Pacific Communities” (2009-2011) have been published on genderinpacificwash.info

The study focuses on two Pacific case studies that incorporate gender strategies and support community decision making processes: World Vision’s Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) initiatives in rural Vanuatu and Live and Learn’s water governance and sustainable communities projects in Fiji.

The research findings have been translated into a set of guidance materials for organisations undertaking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities. The guidance materials include a resource guide, flash cards, a poster, and case study snapshots.

The research project was implemented by the Institute for Sustainable Futures (ISF) and the International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) with funding from the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID).

India: inadequate sanitation costs the equivalent of 6.4 percent of GDP

Inadequate sanitation costs India US$ 53.8 billion, which is equivalent to 6.4 percent of India’s GDP in 2006, according to a new report [1] from the Water and Sanitation Program (WSP).

The study analyzed the evidence on the adverse economic impacts of inadequate sanitation, which include costs associated with death and disease, accessing and treating water, and losses in education, productivity, time, and tourism. The findings are based on 2006 figures, although a similar magnitude of losses is likely in later years.

The report indicates that premature mortality and other health-related impacts of inadequate sanitation, were the most costly at US$ 38.5 billion, 71.6 percent of total impacts, followed by productive time lost to access sanitation facilities or sites for defecation at US$ 10.7 billion, 20 percent, and drinking water-related impacts at US$ 4.2 billion, 7.8 percent.

“The cost is more than I expected,” UNICEF’s water, sanitation and hygiene chief Clarissa Brocklehurst said in an interview with news site Bloomberg. “Yet, if you know the scale of open defecation in India, it’s not all that surprising.”