American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2005.073460
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pkram{at}buffalo.edu.
Rural populations disproportionately lack access to improved water supplies. We evaluated a novel scheme that employed community-based sales agents to disseminate the Safe Water System (SWS)--a household-level water chlorination and safe storage intervention--in rural Madagascar. Respondents from 242 households in 4 villages were interviewed; all used surface water for drinking water. Respondents from 239 households (99%) had heard of SûrEau, the SWS disinfectant; 226 (95%) reported having ever used SûrEau, and 166 (73%) reported current use. Current SûrEau use was confirmed in 54% of households. Community sales agents effectively motivated their neighbors to adopt a new health behavior that prevents diarrhea. Future work should focus on strategies for sustaining SWS use, factors that motivate community-based sales agents to promote SWS, and the feasibility of scaling up this approach. Key Words: Global Health, Prevention, Public Health Practice
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