This is very well written. Thanks! It’s the kind of article that sparks (my) curiosity.
I looked for some information on Helvetas’ website. Helvetas is a Swiss charity that has been running safe water interventions for about 50 years; they are funded by private donors, but also receive development aid money from the Swiss government.
Helvetas provides some ideas why water interventions might help, besides diarrhea:
Disproportionally helps women and girls: Women and girls in poor communities often spend several hours a day fetching water ⇒ big opportunity cost, probably unhealthy for their heads and back.
Unsafe water is used in critical situations, such as during child delivery.
(edited to add: There are hints that this might be significant. For example, WHO and many organizations work to promote breastfeeding, and this is shown to reduce child mortality. Presumably many of the averted deaths would be due to unsafe water)
There are also positive effects of water management in general. These don’t apply to chlorination or to filters at existing wells… but I found it helpful to consider more holistic approaches to water:
Improving water resource management is also key to equitable development, climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, sustainable agriculture and the prevention of conflicts.
Unfortunately, Helvetas’ websites and reports are somewhat light on research. They provide numbers for the number of people reached by their programs, but to my knowledge there isn’t any cost-effectiveness analysis. +1 that we need more research!
This is very well written. Thanks! It’s the kind of article that sparks (my) curiosity.
I looked for some information on Helvetas’ website. Helvetas is a Swiss charity that has been running safe water interventions for about 50 years; they are funded by private donors, but also receive development aid money from the Swiss government.
Helvetas provides some ideas why water interventions might help, besides diarrhea:
Disproportionally helps women and girls: Women and girls in poor communities often spend several hours a day fetching water ⇒ big opportunity cost, probably unhealthy for their heads and back.
Unsafe water is used in critical situations, such as during child delivery. (edited to add: There are hints that this might be significant. For example, WHO and many organizations work to promote breastfeeding, and this is shown to reduce child mortality. Presumably many of the averted deaths would be due to unsafe water)
There are also positive effects of water management in general. These don’t apply to chlorination or to filters at existing wells… but I found it helpful to consider more holistic approaches to water:
Unfortunately, Helvetas’ websites and reports are somewhat light on research. They provide numbers for the number of people reached by their programs, but to my knowledge there isn’t any cost-effectiveness analysis. +1 that we need more research!