Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India
The importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities in school cannot be ignored in protecting children from communicable diseases. However, reports from UNICEF suggest that there is a lack of adequate WASH facilities and a dearth of adequate data on available facilities, particularly...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IWA Publishing
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://washdev.iwaponline.com/content/13/9/723 |
| _version_ | 1827795347742654464 |
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| author | Vibha Gupta Sarita Anand |
| author_facet | Vibha Gupta Sarita Anand |
| author_sort | Vibha Gupta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities in school cannot be ignored in protecting children from communicable diseases. However, reports from UNICEF suggest that there is a lack of adequate WASH facilities and a dearth of adequate data on available facilities, particularly from developing countries. The present study sought to address this gap and build on the evidence-base of school hygiene and sanitation facilities in rural India. The study also assessed the association between available facilities and the handwashing behavior of students. Data were collected from 28 schools using a modified Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) observation checklist and a self-administered questionnaire. Results indicate a universal coverage of WASH facilities in the sampled schools, though the sufficiency and usability of the infrastructure were inadequate. The study also found better hand hygiene KAP scores among students in schools that had handwashing stations closer to toilets (p = 0.018). We conclude that while India has improved access to facilities under the recent National policy push, there needs to be a continued focus on increasing sufficiency, maintenance and usability of the facilities. Additionally, health promotion activities that include teachers, parents and the community are required to improve the hygiene and sanitation behavior of school children.
HIGHLIGHTS
Adds to the evidence-base of the school WASH facilities available to rural, primary school children in India.;
There are hardly any studies that benchmark the available WASH facilities against global standards. The present study maps the findings on the basis of the WHO/UNICEF JMP's new service ladder for WASH in schools.;
Explores the association between the quality of WASH services and students' handwashing behavior.; |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:48:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-20aa3333987846adb250f8f93c62a937 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2043-9083 2408-9362 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T18:48:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | IWA Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development |
| spelling | doaj.art-20aa3333987846adb250f8f93c62a9372023-10-11T15:26:54ZengIWA PublishingJournal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development2043-90832408-93622023-09-0113972373410.2166/washdev.2023.136136Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, IndiaVibha Gupta0Sarita Anand1 Department of Development Communication and Extension, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, New Delhi 110001, India Department of Development Communication and Extension, Lady Irwin College, University of Delhi, New Delhi 110001, India The importance of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities in school cannot be ignored in protecting children from communicable diseases. However, reports from UNICEF suggest that there is a lack of adequate WASH facilities and a dearth of adequate data on available facilities, particularly from developing countries. The present study sought to address this gap and build on the evidence-base of school hygiene and sanitation facilities in rural India. The study also assessed the association between available facilities and the handwashing behavior of students. Data were collected from 28 schools using a modified Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) observation checklist and a self-administered questionnaire. Results indicate a universal coverage of WASH facilities in the sampled schools, though the sufficiency and usability of the infrastructure were inadequate. The study also found better hand hygiene KAP scores among students in schools that had handwashing stations closer to toilets (p = 0.018). We conclude that while India has improved access to facilities under the recent National policy push, there needs to be a continued focus on increasing sufficiency, maintenance and usability of the facilities. Additionally, health promotion activities that include teachers, parents and the community are required to improve the hygiene and sanitation behavior of school children. HIGHLIGHTS Adds to the evidence-base of the school WASH facilities available to rural, primary school children in India.; There are hardly any studies that benchmark the available WASH facilities against global standards. The present study maps the findings on the basis of the WHO/UNICEF JMP's new service ladder for WASH in schools.; Explores the association between the quality of WASH services and students' handwashing behavior.;http://washdev.iwaponline.com/content/13/9/723hygieneruralsanitationschoolswash |
| spellingShingle | Vibha Gupta Sarita Anand Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development hygiene rural sanitation schools wash |
| title | Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India |
| title_full | Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India |
| title_fullStr | Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India |
| title_short | Water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities: enabling or impeding handwashing? An assessment of a primary school infrastructure in Palwal, India |
| title_sort | water sanitation and hygiene facilities enabling or impeding handwashing an assessment of a primary school infrastructure in palwal india |
| topic | hygiene rural sanitation schools wash |
| url | http://washdev.iwaponline.com/content/13/9/723 |
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