USAID Supported Environmental Health Efforts

LUSAID’s Environmental Health Project sponors projects and provides financial support to selected governemtnal and international organizations to conduct programs and research on environmental health issues. These include:

• The Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP)
• CDC/Safewater
• Integrated Vector Management Project (IVM)
• Indoor Air Pollution – Winrock
• Point-of-Use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment (POUZN)
• Public-Private Partnership on Handwashing (PPP Handwashing)
• WHO International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS)

The Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP)

HIP is part of the next generation of USAID’s Environmental Health project. HIP is designed to work at scale, focusing on behavior change to improve child health outcomes. The project is working at scale by engaging multiple stakeholders and partners from different sectors, using a variety of interventions, and integrating hygiene into health and non-health programs such as HIV/AIDS, nutrition and food security, and education. HIP offers USAID programs new tools, approaches and a behavior-centered focus to reduce diarrheal disease.

HIP intends to reduce diarrheal disease morbidity by improving three hygiene practices: proper hand washing with soap or acceptable substitute, safe disposal of feces, and safe storage and treatment of drinking water at point of use. HIP’s behavior change strategy requires addressing all three components of USAID’s Hygiene Improvement Framework (HIF): accessing hardware, products and technologies; promoting hygiene; and creating an enabling environment.  HIP Web Site.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Safewater

The Safe Water System (SWS) is an intervention that employs simple and inexpensive technologies to improve water quality. The purpose of SWS is to make water safe through disinfection and safe storage at the point of use.

The SWS intervention consists of three components: 

• Point-of-use treatment of contaminated water using sodium hypochlorite solution purchased locally and produced by a local manufacturer or in the community from water and salt using an electrolytic cell;
• Safe water storage in containers with a narrow mouth, lid, and a spigot to prevent recontamination; and,
• Behavior change techniques, including social marketing, community mobilization, motivational interviewing, communication, and education. These activities increase awareness of the link between contaminated water and disease, and of the benefits of safe water, and hygiene behaviors.

CDC/Safewater Web Site.

Integrated Vector Management Project (IVM)

The purpose of the Integrated Vector Management Project is to provide technical assistance to USAID missions for vector control operations in support of malaria and other vector-borne disease control programs.
The type of technical assistance includes:Indoor residual spraying,

• Research on the efficacy of larvicides and environmental management for malaria control in specific settings (e.g., arid zones, urban areas, highlands).
• Malaria mapping, stratification, epidemic forecasting, surveillance and early warning systems are also areas of technical assistance.
• In addition, IVM is to maintain a leading role in the global dialogue on integrated vector management which includes participation in international conferences, dissemination of key findings, and implementation of activities in collaboration with key international partners.

IVM Contacts.

Indoor Air Pollution – Winrock

The objective of USAID’s support to Winrock is to reduce health problems of women and children related to indoor smoke from cooking with wood and other fuels by promoting adoption of improved cook stoves and household energy practices. Winrock is developing comprehensive and replicable approaches to address the health impacts of indoor air pollution in Peru, Bangladesh and Kenya. Winrock will work with local partners in these three countries to develop pilot activities that aim to:

• attain sustainable improvement in indoor air quality; and
• to improve the health of the rural and urban poor, particularly women and young children.

Winrock Web Site.

Point-of-use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment (POUZN)

USAID recently awarded via the PSP IQC two separate contracts to AED and Abt/PSI to implement diarrhea reduction projects in multiple countries using point-of-use (POU)water disinfection and zinc treatment in conjunction with ORS.  The goal of the POUZN project is to expand the long-term, sustainable, commercial availability of zinc and POU to reduce mortality and morbidity from diarrhea.  Project implementation will be done through social marketing projects and public-private partnerships.  POUZN has limited core funding for USAID missions interested in starting a new mission activity that will include POU or zinc products. Two awards were made to allow missions to address both manufacturing/commercial sector and social marketing needs.

PSP-One Web Site.

Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing

USAID’s objectives for the support of this initiative are to:

• reduce the incidence of diarrheal diseases in poor communities through Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) promoting handwashing with soap; and
• implement large scale handwashing interventions and use lessons to promote the approach at global level.

In addition to USAID support, other organizations that contribute to the Partnership include the World Bank, the Water and Sanitation Program, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and the private sector in collaboration with UNICEF and the Bank-Netherlands Water Partnership. Partnerships have been established in Ghana, Nepal, Peru, and Senegal. 

PPP Handwashing Web Site.

WHO International Network to Promote Household Water Treatment and Safe Storage (HWTS)

To accelerate health gains to those without reliable access to safe drinking water, WHO established a network aimed at promoting HWTS. The network format optimizes flexibility, participation and creativity to support coordinated action. The Network objectives are:

• Advocacy – The Network will advocate, promote and facilitate the inclusion of HWTS in policies and practices at the national, regional and global level.
• Communication – The Network will provide high quality information to create awareness of HWTS. The two primary audiences for Network communication activities will be Network members themselves to promote information sharing and other key stakeholders, especially those in the developing world, who will enable the Network to accomplish its mission.
• Research – The Network will promote independent research to evaluate interventions by collecting, analysing and disseminating data on efficacy, cost-effectiveness, health impact, acceptability, affordability, scalability and sustainability.
• Implementation – The Network will strive to empower people without access to improved water sources, plus those with improved but unsafe sources, to take charge of their own drinking water safety by working with communities to implement effective, affordable and sustainable HWTS interventions. Particular attention will be given to those most affected by waterborne diseases, such as children, immune-compromised persons, the poor, refugees and internally displaced persons.

WHO HWTS Web Site.

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