Lot quality assurance sampling survey for water, sanitation and hygiene monitoring and evidence-based advocacy in Bentiu IDP camp, South Sudan

Every year, 60% of deaths from diarrhoeal disease occur in low and middle-income countries due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. In these countries, diarrhoeal diseases are the second leading cause of death in children under five, excluding neonatal deaths. The approximately 100,000 peop...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	PloS one Vol. 19; no. 7; p. e0302712
Main Authors:	Tesfay, Berhe Etsay, Gobezie, Destaw, Sinaga, Ivan Andreas, Jacob, Amanya, Mullahzada, Abdul Wasay, Hussain, Samreen, de Boer, Rosita, Pop-Stefanija, Biserka, Slosarska, Monika, Keating, Patrick
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States Public Library of Science 15-07-2024 Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Subjects:	Adult Applications programs Benchmarks Child, Preschool Children Cholera Confidence intervals Coronaviruses COVID-19 Cross-Sectional Studies Data analysis Data collection Diarrhea Diarrhea - epidemiology Diarrhea - prevention & control Drinking water Ecology and Environmental Sciences Eye infections Family Characteristics Fatalities Female Health aspects Hepatitis Households Humans Hygiene Hygiene - standards Indicators Infant Infants Infectious diseases Information management Internally displaced persons Lot Quality Assurance Sampling Malaria Male Medicine and Health Sciences Mobile computing Neonates Outbreaks Patient outcomes Physical Sciences Polls & surveys Prevalence studies (Epidemiology) Quality assurance Quality control Questionnaires Refugee Camps Research and Analysis Methods Sample size Sampling Sanitation Sanitation - standards Sanitation services South Sudan South Sudan - epidemiology Statistical analysis Supervision Surveys Surveys and Questionnaires Tropical diseases Water Water quality Water supply Water Supply - standards South Sudan Sudan
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Summary:	Every year, 60% of deaths from diarrhoeal disease occur in low and middle-income countries due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene. In these countries, diarrhoeal diseases are the second leading cause of death in children under five, excluding neonatal deaths. The approximately 100,000 people residing in the Bentiu Internally Displaced Population (IDP) camp in South Sudan have previously experienced water, sanitation, and hygiene outbreaks, including an ongoing Hepatitis E outbreak in 2021. This study aimed to assess the gaps in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), prioritise areas for intervention, and advocate for the improvement of WASH services based on the findings. A cross-sectional lot quality assurance sampling (LQAS) survey was conducted in ninety-five households to collect data on water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) coverage performance across five sectors. Nineteen households were allocated to each sector, referred to as supervision areas in LQAS surveys. Probability proportional to size sampling was used to determine the number of households to sample in each sector block selected using a geographic positioning system. One adult respondent, familiar with the household, was chosen to answer WASH-related questions, and one child under the age of five was selected through a lottery method to assess the prevalence of WASH-related disease morbidities in the previous two weeks. The data were collected using the KoBoCollect mobile application. Data analysis was conducted using R statistical software and a generic LQAS Excel analyser. Crude values, weighted averages, and 95% confidence intervals were calculated for each indicator. Target coverage benchmarks set by program managers and WASH guidelines were used to classify the performance of each indicator. The LQAS survey revealed that five out of 13 clean water supply indicators, eight out of 10 hygiene and sanitation indicators, and two out of four health indicators did not meet the target coverage. Regarding the clean water supply indicators, 68.9% (95% CI 60.8%-77.1%) of households reported having water available six days a week, while 37% (95% CI 27%-46%) had water containers in adequate condition. For the hygiene and sanitation indicators, 17.9% (95% CI 10.9%-24.8%) of households had handwashing points in their living area, 66.8% (95% CI 49%-84.6%) had their own jug for cleansing after defaecation, and 26.4% (95% CI 17.4%-35.3%) of households had one piece of soap. More than 40% of households wash dead bodies at funerals and wash their hands in a shared bowl. Households with sanitary facilities at an acceptable level were 22.8% (95% CI 15.6%-30.1%), while 13.2% (95% CI 6.6%-19.9%) of households had functioning handwashing points at the latrines. Over the previous two weeks, 57.9% (95% CI 49.6-69.7%) of households reported no diarrhoea, and 71.3% (95% CI 62.1%-80.6%) reported no eye infections among children under five. The camp's hygiene and sanitation situation necessitated immediate intervention to halt the hepatitis E outbreak and prevent further WASH-related outbreaks and health issues. The LQAS findings were employed to advocate for interventions addressing the WASH gaps, resulting in WASH and health actors stepping in.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Current address: Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Liverpool, United Kingdom Current address: Public Health Department, Médecins Sans Frontières, Amsterdam, Netherlands Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
ISSN:	1932-6203 1932-6203
DOI:	10.1371/journal.pone.0302712