Assessment of water use and sanitation behavior in a rural area of Bangladesh

In the current study, the authors sought to assess knowledge and practices of mothers and other family members concerning use of safe water and household latrines following a 2-y project implementation.
The conclusions and recommendations according to the author are:
the results of the study showed an improvement in the use of the safe water supply in the project area. However, the number of household tubewells was inadequate. Assessment of sanitation practices revealed inadequate hygienic practices by mothers, very few household sanitary latrines, and minimal use of household latrines by family members--especially children. There is a need for continuous and repeated health education by village health providers (VHPs) about hygiene and sanitary practices. Health education should be directed to all family members, especially children, and there should be more use of effective methods (e.g., role playing, telling of stories). The risks of using polluted water and defecating in the open yards should be clarified and emphasized to children and other family members. The Health Development Project should think of providing free slab latrines and reducing the cost of tubewells for the very poor families in each village.