Building sustainable water and sanitation infrastructure to improve health status of northern laotians

Access to potable water, environmental latrines and health awareness are considered to be areas of critical development in the northern Laos Province of Oudomxay. Presently, villages in this region still lack access to basic resources. It was these very resources that Laos lacks that began the ‘sanitary revolution' in other countries 150 years ago. Water, Sanitation, Hygiene (WaSH) for health is a health promotion project that utilizes a two prong approach in rural populations. Needs and assets assessment data was initially used to understand the health determinants underlying the poor health of local villagers. Strategic, technical, and infrastructure support was then incorporated to construct water supply systems. A qualitative community-based approach was then used to study eight villages. Key informant interviews with village chiefs (n= 8) and focus groups with villagers (n= 371) were conducted. Community maps were created by villagers to identify the number and location of health centers, water, toilets, and schools in each village. A prioritization chart was used to reduce each village's concerns to the top three. The focus group questions concentrated on sources of income, health practices, water collection methods, latrine facilities, and village expectations. The data findings were analyzed using grounded theory methods which resulted in emerging themes. Northern Laotians identified and prioritized 1) clean water, 2) latrines, and 3) fully functional health centers as their top three needs. Baseline results are presently being used to plan and create a culturally appropriate health intervention and to mobilize the community and local health agencies to build sustainable infrastructure to support proper sanitation. This evaluation serves to validate infrastructure sustainability for sanitary latrines, clean water systems, and health education. The WaSH project will ultimately create an effective, competitive, and sustainable model based on identified needs for improving health status and poverty.