scholarly journals Water, sanitation, and hygiene practices and challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in rural Odisha, India

Author(s):  
Valerie Bauza ◽  
Gloria D. Sclar ◽  
Alokananda Bisoyi ◽  
Fiona Majorin ◽  
Apurva Ghugey ◽  
...  

AbstractWater, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices emerged as a critical component to controlling and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted 131 semi-structured phone interviews with households in rural Odisha, India to understand behavior changes made in WASH practices as a result of the pandemic and challenges that would prevent best practices. Interviews were conducted from May-July 2020 with 73 heads of household, 37 caregivers of children less than five years old, and 21 members of village water and sanitation committees in villages with community-level piped water and high levels of latrine ownership. The majority of respondents (86%, N=104) reported a change in their handwashing practice due to COVID-19 or the related government lockdown, typically describing an increase in handwashing frequency, more thorough washing method, and/or use of soap. These improved handwashing practices remained in place a few months after the pandemic began and were often described as a new consistent practice after additional daily actions (such as returning home), suggesting new habit formation. Few participants (13%) reported barriers to handwashing. Some respondents also detailed improvements in other WASH behaviors including village-level cleaning of water tanks and/or treatment of piped water (48% of villages), household water treatment and storage (17% of respondents), and household cleaning (41% of respondents). However, there was minimal change in latrine use and child feces management practices as a result of the pandemic. We provide detailed thematic summaries of qualitative responses to allow for richer insights into these WASH behavior changes, or lack thereof, during the pandemic. The results also highlight the importance of ensuring communities have adequate WASH infrastructure to enable the practice of safe behaviors and strengthen resilience during a large-scale health crisis.

Author(s):  
Valerie Bauza ◽  
Gloria D. Sclar ◽  
Alokananda Bisoyi ◽  
Fiona Majorin ◽  
Apurva Ghugey ◽  
...  

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) practices emerged as a critical component to controlling and preventing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted 131 semistructured phone interviews with households in rural Odisha, India, to understand behavior changes made in WASH practices as a result of the pandemic and challenges that would prevent best practices. Interviews were conducted from May through July 2020 with 73 heads of household, 37 caregivers of children < 5 years old, and 21 members of village water and sanitation committees in villages with community-level piped water and high levels of latrine ownership. The majority of respondents (86%, N = 104) reported a change in their handwashing practice due to COVID-19, typically describing an increase in handwashing frequency, more thorough washing method, and/or use of soap. These improved handwashing practices remained in place a few months after the pandemic began and were often described as a new consistent practice after additional daily actions (such as returning home), suggesting new habit formation. Few participants (13%) reported barriers to handwashing. Some respondents also detailed improvements in other WASH behaviors, including village-level cleaning of water tanks and/or treatment of piped water (48% of villages), household water treatment and storage (17% of respondents), and household cleaning (41% of respondents). However, there was minimal change in latrine use and child feces management practices as a result of the pandemic. We provide detailed thematic summaries of qualitative responses to allow for richer insights into these WASH behavior changes during the pandemic. The results also highlight the importance of ensuring communities have adequate WASH infrastructure to enable the practice of safe behaviors and strengthen resilience during a large-scale health crisis.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamba Mina Millimouno ◽  
Mohamed Ali Ag Ahmed ◽  
Birama Apho Ly ◽  
Sana Boukary ◽  
Christophe Laba Faye ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented international health crisis with different approaches to the response at country levels. The objective of this study was to analyze the evolution of this pandemic in Guinea, Mali, Senegal, and Burkina Faso over the first six weeks. We hypothesize that there exist significant differences in the incidence of COVID-19 between countries. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a collaborative project. Data collection focused on the epidemiological surveillance indicators available in the countries’ COVID-19 daily situation reports. Data were entered into a standardized Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which was exported to the STATA 15 software for analysis. Results COVID-19 had a different dynamic in the four countries over the first six weeks. Its incidence in Burkina Faso and Senegal was dropping, while it was increasing slowly in Mali; only in Guinea, it increased rapidly. The analysis of variance revealed that the differences observed in the weekly COVID-19 incidence in the four countries were statistically significant (p ˂ 0.01). Different screening approaches have been used by the four countries. Guinea (n = 4,539) performed more tests compared to Senegal (n = 2,961), Burkina Faso (n = 2,455) and Mali (n = 2,397). The positivity rates were significantly higher in Mali (25.5%) and Burkina Faso (23.7%) than in Guinea (19.0%) and Senegal (9.5%) (p ˂ 0.0001). Hospitalization rates by country ranged from 32.0–79.6%, with Guinea’s hospitalization rate (79.6%) being significantly higher as compared to that of the three other countries (p ˂ 0.0001). The cure rates were significantly higher in Burkina Faso (61.4%) and Senegal (61.1%) than in Mali (37.3%) and Guinea (19.7%) (p ˂ 0.0001). The case fatality rate was significantly higher in Burkina Faso (6.5%) than in Mali (5.2%) (p ˂ 0.001), Guinea (0.7%), and Senegal (0.7%) (p ˂ 0.0001). Conclusion This study highlighted insights from COVID-19 surveillance data, as a basis for improving response strategies in the four countries. Large-scale screening seems relevant to not only facilitate controlling the disease spread but also reducing case fatality rates by early case detection, prior to the occurrence of complications.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Kilian ◽  
Jürgen Rehm ◽  
Peter Allebeck ◽  
Fleur Braddick ◽  
Antoni Gual ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims: The aim of this project was to investigate changes in alcohol consumption during the first months of the pandemic in Europe as well as its associations with income and experiences of distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Cross-sectional online survey conducted between April 24 and July 22 of 2020. Setting: 21 European countries. Participants: 31,964 adults reporting past-year drinking. Measurements: Changes in alcohol consumption were measured by asking respondents about changes during the previous month in their drinking frequency, the quantity they consumed, and incidence of heavy episodic drinking events. Individual indicators were combined into an aggregated consumption-change score and scaled to a possible range: -1 to +1. Using this score as outcome, multilevel linear regressions tested changes in overall drinking, taking into account sampling weights and baseline alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C) and country of residence serving as random intercept. Similar models were conducted for each single consumption-change indicator. Findings: In almost all countries, the consumption-change score indicated alcohol use to decrease on average; except in Ireland and the UK, where alcohol consumption on average remained unchanged or increased, respectively. Decreases in drinking were mostly driven by a reduced frequency of heavy episodic drinking. Declines in consumption were less marked among those with low- or average incomes, and those experiencing distress. Conclusions: Our research suggests alcohol consumption to decline on average during the first months of the pandemic in Europe. The findings suggest both reduced availability of alcohol and increased distress may have affected alcohol consumption, although the former seemed to have a greater impact, at least in terms of immediate effects. Monitoring of mid- and long-term consequences will be crucial in understanding how this public health crisis impacts alcohol consumption.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolin Kilian ◽  
Jürgen Rehm ◽  
Peter Allebeck ◽  
Fleur Braddick ◽  
Antoni Gual ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims: The aim of this project was to investigate changes in alcohol consumption during the first months of the pandemic in Europe as well as its associations with income and experiences of distress related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: Cross-sectional online survey conducted between April 24 and July 22 of 2020. Setting: 21 European countries. Participants: 31,964 adults reporting past-year drinking. Measurements: Changes in alcohol consumption were measured by asking respondents about changes during the previous month in their drinking frequency, the quantity they consumed, and incidence of heavy episodic drinking events. Individual indicators were combined into an aggregated consumption-change score and scaled to a possible range: -1 to +1. Using this score as outcome, multilevel linear regressions tested changes in overall drinking, taking into account sampling weights and baseline alcohol consumption (AUDIT-C) and country of residence serving as random intercept. Similar models were conducted for each single consumption-change indicator. Findings: In almost all countries, the consumption-change score indicated alcohol use to decrease on average; except in Ireland and the UK, where alcohol consumption on average remained unchanged or increased, respectively. Decreases in drinking were mostly driven by a reduced frequency of heavy episodic drinking. Declines in consumption were less marked among those with low- or average incomes, and those experiencing distress. Conclusions: Our research suggests alcohol consumption to decline on average during the first months of the pandemic in Europe. The findings suggest both reduced availability of alcohol and increased distress may have affected alcohol consumption, although the former seemed to have a greater impact, at least in terms of immediate effects. Monitoring of mid- and long-term consequences will be crucial in understanding how this public health crisis impacts alcohol consumption.


2018 ◽  
Vol 183 (12) ◽  
pp. 381-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Alexandre Dendoncker ◽  
Christel Moons ◽  
Steven Sarrazin ◽  
Claire Diederich ◽  
Etienne Thiry ◽  
...  

To investigate the current management and biosecurity practices and identify possible differences between different types of breeders, a cross-sectional study was carried out in 102 Belgian dog breeding facilities ranging from small (less than 10 dams on site) to large-scale (more than 50 dams on site or at least 500 puppies sold yearly) breeders. Veterinary prophylactic protocols (ie, vaccination, endoparasite control, ectoparasitic treatments) were highly implemented (91.5 per cent, 92.6 per cent, 42.7 per cent, respectively) across all breeder categories. 13.8 per cent of all visited breeders reported to administer antimicrobials to each female post partum and 10.3 per cent reported to treat all puppies, or at least of one breed, systematically with antimicrobials. Large-scale breeders reported to employ staff more frequently (p<0.01), and appeared to be more familiar with the principles of biosecurity. They reported to apply disinfection (p<0.01) and hygienic measures (p=0.03) across all parts of the facility, and to quarantine newly acquired dogs (p<0.01) more often compared with small-scale breeders. Nonetheless, a moderate knowledge of and use of disinfection was recorded, as was the presence of pet dogs, breaking the compartmentalisation. Results of this study indicate that there is substantial room for improvement in hygiene and disease management across all categories of breeders. The characterisation of different types of dog breeders with respect to biosecurity and management practices is a first step towards improvement of dog husbandry and biosecurity measures. Tailored guidelines should permit breeders to further improve the health of breeding animals and puppies while reducing the risk of infectious disease outbreaks and associated expenses.


Author(s):  
Rashmi Hullalli ◽  
M. R. Gudadinni ◽  
Shailaja S. Patil

Background: One of the world’s most urgent issues is lack of safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Water-related improvements are crucial to meet the development goals, reduce child mortality, and improve health in a sustainable way. The absence of WASH in schools is responsible for 20% of total deaths and disability adjusted life years (DALYs) in children. Over 440 million schools days are missed annually due to water, sanitation and hygiene related diseases. Though there are emerging vaccines for rotavirus and cholera still WASH remains critical in the prevention of diarrheal diseases, soil transmitted helminthes infections and acute respiratory diseases. Objective of the study was to study the implementation and functionality of WASH in schools.Methods: A cross sectional study was done in all the schools of rural practice area of our college by interview technique using a pre tested semi structured questionnaire.Results: Out of 7 schools, 5 (71%) had piped water supply but only 2 schools (28.5%) practiced the process of water purification every day. All the schools were provided with toilet facilities whereas only 3 schools had separate toilet for girls. When looked upon availability of soap only 3 schools had provided soap regularly for hand washing. Most of the schools taught about personal hygiene but only 2 schools revealed that they dispose solid waste regularly.Conclusions: Although nationwide emphasis is given to water sanitation and hygiene, practicing is very low especially in rural areas. Therefore special efforts should be done not only for the implantation, but also upon the operation and maintenance of the same. 


Author(s):  
Nilam Gaude ◽  
Archana Dessai

Introduction: Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a major challenge in developing nations and more among rural population. In India, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched with the objective to provide sanitation facilities and eliminate open defecation. Objective: To assess the existing facilities and practices related to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene among household members in the rural population of Goa. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of Rural Health and Training Centre, Mandur, Goa. Individuals aged ≥ 18 years were interviewed from 100 households by house to house visits using semi-structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 100 households, 87 (87.0%) were having piped water supply into dwelling, 5 (5.0%) were using public tap and 8 (8.0%) were using water from well. Majority of the households, i.e., 94 (94.0%) were using sanitary latrine for defecation, 1 (1.0%) had community toilet and 5 (5.0%) were practicing open field defecation. Closed container was used by 89(89.0%) of the households for storing drinking water and 96 (96.0%) were using soap and water for hand washing. Conclusion: This study revealed that overall water and sanitation practices among the study population were satisfactory. However, measures need to be taken to abolish some of the bad practices such as open defecation and drainage of waste water in the open which was seen in few participants.


Diabetes ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 67 (Supplement 1) ◽  
pp. 2393-PUB
Author(s):  
KENICHIRO TAKAHASHI ◽  
MINORI SHINODA ◽  
RIKA SAKAMOTO ◽  
JUN SUZUKI ◽  
TADASHI YAMAKAWA ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Zendle

A variety of practices have recently emerged which are related to both video games and gambling. Most prominent of these are loot boxes. However, a broad range of other activities have recently emerged which are also related to both gambling and video games: esports betting, real-money video gaming, token wagering, social casino play, and watching videos of both loot box opening and gambling on game streaming services like Twitch.Whilst a nascent body of research has established the robust existence of a relationship between loot box spending and both problem gambling and disordered gaming, little research exists which examines whether similar links may exist for the diverse practices outlined above. Furthermore, no research has thus far attempted to estimate the prevalence of these activities.A large-scale survey of a representative sample of UK adults (n=1081) was therefore conducted in order to investigate these issues. Engagement in all measured forms of gambling-like video game practices were significantly associated with both problem gambling and disordered gaming. An aggregate measure of engagement was associated with both these outcomes to a clinically significant degree (r=0.23 and r=0.43). Engagement in gambling-like video game practices appeared widespread, with a 95% confidence interval estimating that 16.3% – 20.9% of the population engaged in these activities at least once in the last year. Engagement in these practices was highly inter-correlated: Individuals who engaged in one practice were likely to engage in several more.Overall, these results suggest that the potential effects of the blurring of lines between video games and gambling should not primarily be understood to be due to the presence of loot boxes in video games. They suggest the existence of a convergent ecosystem of gambling-like video game practices, whose causal relationships with problem gambling and disordered gaming are currently unclear but must urgently be investigated.


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