Bringing Safe Water to Remote Populations: An Evaluation of a Portable Point-of-Use Intervention in Rural Madagascar

Rural populations disproportionately lack access to improved water supplies. We evaluated a novel scheme that employed community-based sales agents to disseminate the Safe Water System (SWS)--a household-level water chlorination and safe storage intervention--in rural Madagascar. Respondents from 24...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of public health (1971) 2007-03, Vol.97 (3), p.398-400
Main Authors: Ram, Pavani Kalluri, Kelsey, Elaine, Rasoatiana, Miarintsoa, Rabeantoandro Rado, Rakotomalala, Oliver, Dunston, Chris, Quick, Robert E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Advertising campaigns
Biological and medical sciences
Chlorine
Chlorine Compounds - economics
Chlorine Compounds - supply & distribution
Community
Diarrhea
Diarrhea - prevention & control
Disinfectants - economics
Disinfectants - supply & distribution
Disinfection & disinfectants
Drinking water
Entrepreneurship
Field Action Report
Health Behavior
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Household Products - economics
Household Products - supply & distribution
Household Products - utilization
Households
Humans
Interviews
Interviews as Topic
Literacy
Madagascar
Marketing
Marketing - methods
Medical sciences
Miscellaneous
Population density
Public health
Public health. Hygiene
Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine
Rural areas
Rural Health
Safety
Self report
Social Marketing
Surface water
Towns
Water Purification - methods
Water Purification - standards
Water quality
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Summary:Rural populations disproportionately lack access to improved water supplies. We evaluated a novel scheme that employed community-based sales agents to disseminate the Safe Water System (SWS)--a household-level water chlorination and safe storage intervention--in rural Madagascar. Respondents from 242 households in 4 villages were interviewed; all used surface water for drinking water. Respondents from 239 households (99%) had heard of Sûr'Eau, the SWS disinfectant; 226 (95%) reported having ever used Sûr'Eau, and 166 (73%) reported current use. Current Sûr'Eau use was confirmed in 54% of households. Community sales agents effectively motivated their neighbors to adopt a new health behavior that prevents diarrhea. Future work should focus on strategies for sustaining SWS use, factors that motivate community-based sales agents to promote SWS, and the feasibility of scaling up this approach.
ISSN:0090-0036
1541-0048
DOI:10.2105/AJPH.2005.073460