IMPROVING
THE EARLY WARNING REPORTING SYSTEM IN NEPAL
With technical assistance from EHP, USAID/Nepal is supporting the
Nepal Ministry of Health to improve their early warning reporting
system (EWARS). The EWARS consists of 26 district and zonal hospitals
functioning as sentinel sites reporting six priority diseases. Based
on strategies identified at the EWARS Implementation Workshop held in
Kathmandu, revised EWARS forms have been developed for reporting the
six priority diseases. In addition, revised definitions and criteria
for �timeliness of reports,� �accuracy of reports� and �comprehensiveness
of reports� have been identified. Furthermore district EWARS teams
comprising of staff from hospitals and public health offices have been
formed in eight of the 26 sentinel sites linking the sentinel sites to
the public health offices for prompt alerts and responses to current
or potential outbreaks. A two-day training also was provided by EHP to
the district EWARS teams.
For more information, please contact Lisa
Nichols at [email protected]
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ASSESSING
AND PROMOTING NATIONAL SANITATION POLICIES
More than 2.4 billion people around the world currently lack access
to adequate sanitation facilities. EHP and its partners, which include
UNICEF, CARE, the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and
Technology (EAWAG), the IRC International Water and Sanitation Center,
the Pan American Health Organization, the U.K. Department for
International Development-funded WELL2 project, WHO, the World Water
Council, the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council and the
World Bank Water Supply & Sanitation Program, were engaged in the
development of a tool to assist in the assessment, promotion and overall
improvement of national sanitation policies.
A consultant team began work in October 2001, and sanitation policy
assessment guidelines have been completed. The consultant team focused
on field data collection in Peru, South Africa and Uganda, examining
these countries� recent experiences in promoting and implementing a
national policy on sanitation. This data collection informed the process
for defining and developing an assessment tool that captures the key
elements of national sanitation policies.
The key partners met in March 2002 in Washington, D.C., to review and
revise the guidelines for field testing. Field tests are anticipated to
take place over the coming 6-12 months in a number of countries using a
range of approaches. The report, �Guidelines for the Assessment of
National Sanitation Policies,� is now available from EHP (see �New
EHP Publications� below).
For further information, please contact Eddy
Perez at [email protected]
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POST-MITCH
ACTIVITIES IN NICARAGUA--WORKING WITH NGOs
In October 1998, Hurricane Mitch left a trail of destruction through
the heart of Central America. To protect the health of families in rural
communities devastated by Hurricane Mitch, USAID responded to the disaster
by allocating nearly US$9.8 million over a 27-month period. The work was
conducted through EHP�s Nicaragua Rural Water Supply, Sanitation and
Environmental Health Reconstruction program. EHP served as program manager
overseeing grants and providing technical oversight to six private
voluntary organization (PVO) grantees, which functioned as program
implementers. Interventions included provision of water and sanitation
services, construction of household latrines and hygiene promotion through
community mobilization and school hygiene programs. The results exceeded
program objectives, and all behavior change targets related to hygiene and
sanitation were achieved.
To follow-up and monitor changes related to hygiene improvement brought
about under EHP�s Nicaragua program, EHP is supporting and providing
technical assistance to NicaSalud, a local non-governmental organization
(NGO) in Nicaragua. NicaSalud has been tasked to function as a
coordinating body for a network of PVOs and NGOs formed after Hurricane
Mitch to deliver and support extended health services in Nicaragua,
coordinate post-Mitch network activities in improving hygiene- and
sanitation-related behaviors and document the community-based experiences
of PVOs and organizations participating in the NGO network.
For more information on the activity, contact John
Gavin at [email protected]
or Lisa Nichols at [email protected]
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AFRICAN
SANITATION AND HYGIENE CONFERENCE
EHP staff participated in the African Sanitation and Hygiene conference
that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from July 29-August 1, 2002.
Of the 800 million people in Africa, 300 million lack adequate
sanitation, yet sanitation and hygiene programs suffer from low political
priorities and small budgets. Recognizing the need to raise the profile of
sanitation and hygiene, the conference brought together a large group of
senior politicians, professionals and activists concerned with sanitation
and hygiene in Africa. The conference built on the work and ideas of
several other important international meetings including the African
Ministerial Conference on Water (AMCOW) held in Nigeria April 29-30, 2002,
that brought together ministers from 43 African countries.
The EHP Information Center prepared a CD-ROM of selected EHP reports
and articles on sanitation and hygiene for distribution at the conference.
For a copy of the CD-ROM, please contact [email protected]
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NEW EHP
PUBLICATIONS!
1. Strategic Report on the Assessment of National
Sanitation Policies
Strategic Report 2, "Guidelines for the Assessment of National
Sanitation Policies."
This report provides guidelines to inventory and evaluate the adequacy
of sanitation policies in developing countries. The assessment tool will
serve to focus attention on key elements of sanitation policy and
programming. The tool also provides methods guidance for sanitation data
collection and suggestions for field assessment.
A 1.85MB PDF version of the report is available at:
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/Strategic_papers/SR2SanPolweb.pdf
For more information or a hard copy of the report, contact
[email protected]
2. Activity Report on the Health of Children Living
in Urban Slums in Asia and the Near East
Activity Report 109, "Health of Children Living in Urban Slums in
Asia and the Near East: Review of Existing Literature and Data."
Due to the rapid pace of urbanization in Asia and the Near East (ANE),
the USAID/ANE Regional Bureau tasked EHP with a three-phase activity.
Phase 1 involves compilation/literature review of information related to
what is known about urban slum child health and information gaps, focusing
on three cities in the region: Cairo, Egypt, Ahmedabad, India and Manila,
Philippines.
The activity report provides the compiled information related to urban
slum child health and guidelines for strategic planning and program
development.
A 1MB PDF version of the report is available at:
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/Activity_Reports/AR109ANEUrbHlthweb.pdf
For more information or a hard copy of the report, contact
[email protected]
3. Joint Publication on Prevention of Diarrhea
Through Improving Hygiene Behaviors
Joint Publication 4, "Prevention of Diarrhea Through Improving
Hygiene Behaviors, The Sanitation and Family Education (SAFE) Pilot
Project Experience."
The Sanitation and Family Education pilot project implemented by
CARE/Bangladesh with technical assistance from the International Centre
for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), focused on the �software�
aspects of water, sanitation and hygiene, in particular, hygiene promotion
for diarrhea prevention. The SAFE results clearly showed the importance of
hygiene promotion to achieve health outcomes.
The principal report, documenting the SAFE project, was published by
CARE/Bangladesh in February 1995. ICDDR,B reprinted the report as part of
its Special Publication Series. Unfortunately, the report did not receive
the wide circulation that its findings and methodological documentation
deserved, and EHP re-printed the report as a CARE-ICDDR,B-EHP joint
publication to make the document available to a wider audience.
A 2.28MB PDF version of the report is available at:
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/Joint_Publications/JP004SAFEr.pdf
For more information or a hard copy of the report,
contact [email protected]
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Previous
Issues
The main topics or countries
discussed are given in parentheses.
June
2002 (West
Bank Environmental Health Assessment, New Publications)
March
2002 (E-Conference
on Hygiene Improvement Framework, Latin America and the Caribbean, Larva
Control, Nicaragua, Africa Malaria Day)
January
2002 (New
EHP Director; Benin; Monitoring Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Activities;
Malaria and Vector Control)
November
2001 (EHP Handwashing Publication, West Bank, Asia
and the Near East, PAHO�EHP Partnership)
October
2001 (Benin, Sustainable Sanitation in Small
Towns, DR Congo, Peru Behavior Change)
August 2001 (India, Eritrea, Democratic Republic
of the Congo, BBIN Network, information exchange network)
June 2001 (Mozambique, Madagascar, Nepal, Dominican
Republic, indoor air pollution consultation, Nairobi SIMA Conference)
May 2001
(Central America handwashing initiative, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Eritrea, Nepal, Bolivia)
March
2001 (Nicaragua, Madagascar, Africa, DDT cost comparison)
January
2001 (EHP
Activities, E-Newsletter, National Malaria Control Programs in 4 African
Countries, Congo, Decentralization in Latin America, Peru, WSSCC Forum,
Global WS&S Assessment from WHO/UNICEF)
November
2000 (Nicaragua,
Dominican Republic, Madagascar, SANICONN)
September
2000 (Nepal/Regional,
EHP and E-conferences)
July
2000 (Nicaragua, Malaria
Vaccine Development, "Water for the World")
May�June
2000 (Nicaragua, International
Consultation on Indoor Air Pollution)
April 2000
(Nicaragua,
Madagascar, Mozambique)
March 2000 (Benin, South Africa,
Eritrea, Madagascar)
February 2000 (Nicaragua, Paraguay,
Ukraine, Mozambique and Eritrea)
January
2000 (Nicaragua, EHP Lessons Learned)
Previous
Issues by Country
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