3286.0: Monday, November 17, 2003: 2:30 PM-4:00 PM | |||
Oral | |||
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| APHA has officially adopted a public policy statement in Philadelphia in 2002 that called for increasing the access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene promotion in developing countries (http://apha.org/legislative/policy/2002/2002-6-water.pdf). This panel is an effort to translate APHA’s commitment to this issue into concrete and doable actions by public health practitioners and programs. Approximately 1.5 million children die every year from diarrhea, and many more suffer long-term impairments of physical and mental development. More than 10 percent of the world's population is at risk of loosing eyesight due to trachoma, and approximately 6 million people are already blind. This continuing high burden from diseases that are largely or entirely preventable has serious implications for young children, women and families’ livelihood. While case management, including oral rehydration and antibiotics, effectively lower mortality and prevent permanent blindness, hygiene promotion combined with improved water supply and sanitation is essential for lowering morbidity or even eliminating diseases such as trachoma. The evidence that hygiene promotion works is overwhelming: hand washing with soap, safe feces disposal, water treatment, and a few other hygiene behaviors can prevent as many as half of all diarrhea episodes in children under 5 every year. Face washing is similarly effective to break the cycle of re-infection and disrupt the transmission of trachoma. Despite this vast evidence, the behavioral aspects and hygiene promotion get less attention than infrastructure and technology issues. This panel will present evidence from research and field programs that: · Hygiene promotion is essential for reducing diarrhea morbidity or eliminating a disease like trachoma in combination with improved technologies such as water treatment by the household or mass treatment with a single-dose antibiotic · Hygiene promotion is effective and ready to be implemented at scale · School programs and child-to-child education are critical for achieving and sustaining hygiene behavior change on a large scale · Community participation and a strong enabling environment are critical and practicable | |||
| Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participants will be able to articulate the public health importance of combining hygiene promotion with access to technology and services to prevent lethal or disabling diseases such as diarrhea and trachoma. | |||
| See individual abstracts for presenting author's disclosure statement and author's information. | |||
| Merri Weinger | |||
| Hygiene promotion: Effective and ready to go to scale Eckhard Kleinau, Dr PH, MD | |||
| Improving water, sanitation and hygiene practice to eliminate blinding trachoma Amos Sam-Abbenyi, MD, MSc | |||
| Behavior change and the safe water system: The crucial role of motivational techniques Robert Quick, MD, MPH | |||
| Withdrawn -- Presentation by Minister of Water Affairs in the South African Government Ronald Kasrils | |||
| Withdrawn -- Presentation on point-of-use Jamie Bartram | |||
| Withdrawn -- Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at Schools: Accelerated Efforts towards Girls’ Education Vanessa Tobin, BSc, MSc, MSc | |||
| Withdrawn -- Presentation from Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council Gouri Ghosh | |||
| Organized by: | International Health | ||
| Endorsed by: | Environment; Public Health Education and Health Promotion | ||
| CE Credits: | CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing, Pharmacy | ||