WASH and Neglected Tropical Diseases Collaboration

Improvements of WASH infrastructure and appropriate health-seeking behavior are necessary for achieving sustained control, elimination, or eradication of many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Indeed, the global strategies to fight NTDs include provision of WASH, but few programs have specific WASH targets and approaches. Collaboration between disease control programs and stakeholders in WASH is a critical step.

In effort to establish mechanisms for collaboration, we led a comprehensive literature review, supported by Center for Global Safe WASH, Children Without Worms, and International Trachoma Initiative, on the impact of WASH interventions and programs on related NTDs. In late 2012, we met with a group of stakeholders from the NTD control, child health, and WASH sectors to discuss opportunities for, and barriers to, collaboration.

The group agreed on a common vision, namely “Disease-free communities that have adequate and equitable access to water and sanitation, and that practice good hygiene” and published their recommendations for inter-sectoral collaboration. Four key areas of collaboration were identified, including (i) advocacy, policy, and communication; (ii) capacity building and training; (iii) mapping, data collection, and monitoring; and (iv) research. We discuss strategic opportunities and ways forward for enhanced collaboration between the WASH and the NTD sectors.

In collaboration with the Center for Global Safe WASH, Children Without Worms and International Trachoma Initiative we created on-line manuals and an on-line course aimed to increase WASH sector access to information, and advocacy and monitoring and evaluation tools regarding WASH impact on the NTDs. These details are now included in a new toolkit to guide effective partnerships between the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and NTD sectors. This toolkit aims to help the NTD sector work with the WASH community, guiding partnership building, mobilizing resources, and designing, implementing and evaluating interventions.

Publications:

1. Integration of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene for the Prevention and Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases: A Rationale for Inter-Sectoral Collaboration (2013)

Resources:

• WASH and Health working together: a ‘how to’ guide for NTD programmes

Study Location

Globally

Target Population

WASH and NTD program practitioners

Principal Investigators

Matthew Freeman

IMPLEMENTING partners

Center for Global Safe WASH, Children Without Worms, International Trachoma Initiative

Funders

Sightsavers