Combined household water treatment and indoor air pollution projects in urban Mambanda, Cameroon and rural Nyanza, Kenya

Overview

In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a request for proposals (RFP) on the integration of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and Household Water Treatment (HWT) at the household level in Africa.  Globally, the burden of ill‐health in Africa due to unsafe drinkingwater, inadequate sanitation and polluted indoor air stands out prominently.  Among African  children under 5 years of age, 18% of all deaths are due to diarrhoea, and 17% to pneumonia  (UNICEF/WHO, 2009). Around 40% of these pneumonia deaths can be attributed to indoor air pollution, and approximately 88% of diarrhoea deaths to inadequate water, sanitation,  and hygiene (WHO, 2007).

The aims of this initiative were:

• To explore whether or not it is possible to achieve synergies and economies of scale by  linking HWT and IAQ interventions
• To examine the potential for expansion and scaling up in the implementation of projects  combining these interventions
• To document integration models for these interventions
• To examine the added‐value of integrating these two approaches, in a way that contributes to an improvement in health outcomes, as well as sustainability and adoption  of use.