Water access, hand hygiene, and child health in sub-Saharan Africa
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- Diarrhea is a leading cause of under-five child mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, where one in eight children dies before reaching the age of five. Only 31% of the sub-Saharan Africa population has access to improved sanitation facilities, and 60% have access to improved water supply. This dissertation attempts to better understand how water access and hand hygiene affect diarrheal disease transmission in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on households with young children using non-networked water supplies. First, the relationship between household access to water and child health is quantified using data on over 100,000 households from 26 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Having to walk further to fetch water is found to be associated with child diarrhea, low height and weight, and under-five mortality. Next, field studies from Tanzania provide evidence of the role that hand hygiene plays in transmission of fecal contamination and illness. High levels of fecal bacteria on mothers' and children's hands are found to be correlated to household water quality and child illness. Third, an observational study identifies particular household activities that cause increased hand contamination. A final investigation explores the potential for waterless hand sanitizer to improve hand hygiene in highly contaminated environments with limited access to water supply.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Pickering, Amy (Amy Janel) |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources (Stanford University) |
| Primary advisor | Boehm, Alexandria |
| Primary advisor | Davis, Jennifer |
| Thesis advisor | Boehm, Alexandria |
| Thesis advisor | Davis, Jennifer |
| Thesis advisor | Miller, Norman |
| Advisor | Miller, Norman |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Amy Janel Pickering. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program in Environment and Resources. |
| Thesis | Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011. |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Amy Janel Pickering
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).
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