Fall 2004 Issue
Clean Water Empowers Women and Saves Lives in Afghanistan
Safe Water System is simple, fast and cost-effective
Doing a Lot With a Little
Modest funding leads to clean water program in Dhaka, Bangladesh
It doesn’t necessarily take millions of dollars to change a lot of lives. In an urban slum community in Dhaka, Bangladesh, for example, a one-year Safe Water System pilot will impact 1,000 families, thanks to relatively modest funding from three CDC Foundation donors.
A $1,000 contribution from the Gangarosa International Health Foundation, combined with $15,000 from the Research Foundation for Health and Environmental Effects and $10,000 from Arch Chemicals Corporation – along with funding from the World Health Organization and in-kind donations from Dhaka-based Dushtha Shashthya Kendra (DSK) – will make a huge difference in fighting childhood illness and death caused by waterborne diarrheal disease.
As a result of the pilot, impoverished families who are plagued by high rates of diarrheal disease will learn how to avoid illness through proper hygiene practices and treatment, and safe storage of their water.
The project will be implemented in Dhaka by DSK, with technical expertise provided by CDC. Motivated community-based entrepreneurs will be trained to educate their neighbors and sell chlorine solution, soap and safe water storage containers. “It’s kind of like an ‘Avon lady’ concept,” explains Pavani Kalluri, M.D., CDC technical expert. “This pilot program is going to be very informative, and is a great example of how a small amount of funding can have large-scale implications.”
A pregnant woman in Afghanistan fears her baby won’t live to celebrate his fifth birthday – not because he’ll be a casualty of war, but because he’ll fall victim to a deadly bout of diarrhea caused by a lack of clean, safe drinking water. In this war-torn nation, more than one in four children doesn’t survive beyond the age of five. Diarrhea is the leading cause of death, killing about 85,000 Afghan children a year. Less than 15 percent of the population has access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation facilities.
But the Safe Water System (SWS), a water treatment system developed by CDC and the World Health Organization, is beginning to turn the tide. The system is now being offered at medical clinics as part of a project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, through the CDC Foundation, to improve maternal and child health in Afghanistan.
Pregnant women learn to treat and store water
The Safe Water System clinic project, which launched in April 2004, is educating pregnant women, who visit more than 30 clinics in Afghanistan, about an inexpensive, practical way to protect their families from diarrhea. These women are learning that simply by treating their drinking water with diluted chlorine bleach; storing it safely in a narrow-mouthed, lidded vessel; and washing their hands with soap and water, they can ensure a supply of safe, clean water in their homes.
“We’re working in clinics that provide maternal and child health care to motivate pregnant women to use the Safe Water System and to improve their families’ hygiene,” explains Pavani Kalluri, M.D., CDC medical epidemiologist and technical expert. “Participants receive a free hygiene kit that includes a bottle of dilute sodium hypochlorite solution (chlorine bleach or Clorin), a safe water storage container, a bar of soap, and a hand-washing container. They’re encouraged to return for at least three additional visits during their pregnancy. At each visit they receive antenatal care, along with another bottle of Clorin.”
CDC partner Population Services International (PSI) is implementing the program in Afghanistan. Lorri Anne Carrozza, PSI Safe Water System advisor, says that participants gain a real sense of empowerment. “It gives women an opportunity to take control of their families’ health,” she says. “Despite ongoing security concerns and many other obstacles, we’ve already distributed about 6,600 hygiene kits and 13,200 bottles of Clorin to women in 33 clinics.”
Affordability, ease of use encourage behavior changes
While the initial hygiene kit is free, women are encouraged to adapt new behaviors and purchase chlorine and soap over the long term. A bottle of Clorin, which treats drinking water for about six weeks for a typical family, costs only 25 cents – a bargain for even the most impoverished families. In other countries where the SWS is in place, diarrhea has been dramatically reduced, typically by 40 to 60 percent among households using the system.
The Afghanistan SWS clinic project, funded through 2005, is expected to reach 15,000 women and their extended families. “This is one of our first clinic-based SWS projects, so we’re learning from it,” says Kalluri. “We hope to show that we’re making an impact on women’s knowledge and practices, and in doing so, secure additional funding to sustain this important program over the long term.”
-Lisa Splitlog