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EHP News  August 2002


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]

 

 

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]

 

 

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]

 

 

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]

 

 

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]

 

 

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")
MayJune 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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Last modified November 25, 2002