Looking beyond Technology: An Integrated Approach to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Low Income Countries. Env Sci Tech, July 2014.
Elizabeth Tilley, Linda Strande, Christoph Lüthi, Hans-Joachim Mosler, Kai M. Udert, Heiko Gebauer, and Janet G. Hering
Despite investment stimulated by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), sanitation-related diseases, such as diarrhea, cholera and typhus, remain a leading cause of death of children under five in low-income countries. Prevention of diarrhea requires a combination of access to safe drinking water, good hygiene and adequate sanitation. The sanitation problem has proven to be particularly intractable, demonstrating the shortcomings of past efforts that have focused on increasing access to toilets.
An alternative view positions the toilet within a service chain that extends to the final point of disposal or end-use of excreta-derived products. An integrated perspective that addresses improved planning, takes advantage of economic opportunities, incorporates specialized technology, and follows-up with behavior change could help to ensure not only access but also sustainable use, operation and maintenance of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions.