WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene)

A UNICEF-led Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) program in Jordan's Zaatari refugee camp using community health volunteers to promote handwashing, safe water storage, and sanitation practices. The program transitioned from emergency response to sustainable household-level infrastructure.

The study highlights the rise of Anopheles stephensi, an invasive mosquito spreading across African cities, posing a new challenge to malaria control efforts. It emphasizes the importance of raising awareness and addressing human behaviors, such as water storage and fever response, to prevent the mosquito from becoming a widespread threat.

SanMarkS uses a market-based approach to sanitation, training local entrepreneurs to manufacture and sell affordable latrines through door-to-door sales and community events. Rather than giving subsidies, the program develops diverse price-point products, strengthens supply chains, and empowers micro-entrepreneurs as "last-mile marketers." Over 850,000 people gained access to improved sanitation in the first phase, with 213,000+ toilets sold.

Povu Poa ("Cool Foam" in Kiswahili) is a water-efficient, soap-frugal handwashing system developed by Innovations for Poverty Action and Catapult Design for areas without reliable piped water. The system costs just $0.10 per 100 handwashes (vs $0.45 for conventional stations) and features a hygienic swing tap operable with the back of the hand. In schools, soap availability increased from <1% to >50%, and handwashing with soap rose from 0% to 32%. In clinics, handwashing jumped from 0% to 76.5%.

The Global Handwashing Partnership (GHP) coordinates Global Handwashing Day (October 15) and year-round advocacy to promote handwashing with soap worldwide. Since 2008, the campaign has mobilized over 200 million participants annually through school events, community activities, and media campaigns. The partnership develops evidence-based resources on behavior change drivers, including emotional motivators and social norms.

SuperAmma was a cluster-randomized trial in rural Andhra Pradesh, India that used emotional drivers—particularly maternal nurturing instincts—rather than health knowledge to promote handwashing with soap. The campaign featured an animated mother character "SuperAmma" and used community events, school skits, animated films, and public pledging ceremonies. Observed handwashing rates increased from 1% to 37% in intervention villages.

The Safe Water System, developed by CDC and USAID, combines locally-produced dilute chlorine bleach solution (e.g., WaterGuard), safe storage containers with narrow openings and spigots, and community health worker education to prevent water recontamination. Implemented in 30+ countries since 1998, SWS has cut diarrheal deaths in half among children under five in target populations and reduced diarrhea by two-thirds among people living with HIV/AIDS.

CLTS is a participatory sanitation approach developed in Bangladesh in 2000 that has spread to 53+ countries. Instead of providing hardware subsidies, CLTS uses "triggering" techniques—including community mapping of open defecation sites, "walks of shame," and demonstrations of fecal-oral contamination—to evoke disgust and motivate collective action. Communities identify their own solutions using local materials to achieve "Open Defecation Free" (ODF) status.