Estimating the Scope of Household Water Treatment in Low- and Medium-Income Countries
- 1 February 2010
- journal article
- Published by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 82 (2), 289-300
- https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2010.09-0382
Abstract
For populations without reliable access to safe drinking water, household water treatment (HWT) provides a means of improving water quality and preventing disease. We extracted data on reported HWT practices from 67 national surveys and reports on the scope of HWT. An estimated 33.0% of the households (1.1 billion people) in these countries report treating their drinking water at home. The practice is widespread in the Western Pacific (66.8%) and Southeast Asia (45.4%) regions, and it is less common in the Eastern Mediterranean (13.6%) and Africa (18.2%). Boiling is the most dominant method with 21.0% of the study households (598 million people) using the method. Despite being at higher risk of waterborne disease because of lower coverage of improved water sources, African and rural households are less likely to practice HWT or use microbiologically adequate methods. Validation of the household surveys and further analysis of these data could help optimize HWT practices.Keywords
This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Microbiological Effectiveness of Disinfecting Water by Boiling in Rural GuatemalaThe American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 2010
- Evaluation of a pre-existing, 3-year household water treatment and handwashing intervention in rural GuatemalaInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2009
- Effect of village income and household income on sanitation facilities, hygiene behaviours and child undernutrition during rapid economic growth in a rural cross-border area, Yunnan, ChinaJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 2009
- Cost-effectiveness of water quality interventions for preventing diarrhoeal disease in developing countriesJournal of Water and Health, 2007
- Estimating the costs and health benefits of water and sanitation improvements at global levelJournal of Water and Health, 2007
- Interventions to improve water quality for preventing diarrhoea: systematic review and meta-analysisBMJ, 2007
- A simple index to measure hygiene behavioursInternational Journal of Epidemiology, 2006
- Solar disinfection of water for diarrhoeal prevention in southern IndiaArchives of Disease in Childhood, 2005
- Water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions to reduce diarrhoea in less developed countries: a systematic review and meta-analysisThe Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2005
- The World Health Report 2002 - Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy LifePublished by Informa UK Limited ,2003