Abstract
Sanitation planners make complex decisions in the delivery of sanitation services to achieve health outcomes. We present findings from a stakeholder engagement workshop held in Kampala, Uganda, to educate, interact with, and solicit feedback from participants on how the relevant scientific literature on pathogens can be made more accessible to practitioners to support decision-making. We targeted Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) practitioners involved in different levels of service delivery. Practitioners revealed that different sanitation planning tools are used to inform decision-making; however, most of these tools are not user-friendly or adapted to meet their needs. Most stakeholders (68%) expressed familiarity with pathogens, yet less than half (46%) understood that fecal coliforms were bacteria and used as indicators for fecal pollution. A number of stakeholders were unaware that fecal indicator bacteria do not behave and persist the same as helminths, protozoa, or viruses, making fecal indicator bacteria inadequate for assessing pathogen reductions for all pathogen groups. This suggests a need for awareness and capacity development around pathogens found in excreta. The findings underscore the importance to engage stakeholders in the development of support tools for sanitation planning and highlighted broader opportunities to bridge science with practice in the WASH sector.
Highlights
IntroductionIn order to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) on universal access to safe water and sanitation, access to scientific data, such as on the occurrence, persistence, inactivation, and removal of pathogens in excreta and wastewater to support evidence-based sanitation decision-
Seventy-four stakeholders from organizations actively involved in the WASH sector in Uganda were invited to participate in the workshops and consisted primarily of members of the National Sanitation Working Group (NSWG) organized by the Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE) that supports benchmarking and tracking of sanitation investments in the country
Stakeholders were split again into small group breakout sessions to discuss how the K2P tools link with or fill gaps in tools currently used by stakeholders for sanitation planning
Summary
In order to meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) on universal access to safe water and sanitation, access to scientific data, such as on the occurrence, persistence, inactivation, and removal of pathogens in excreta and wastewater to support evidence-based sanitation decision-. Despite initially reporting a high level of knowledge regarding pathogens or fecal indicator microorganisms, a number of stakeholders were unaware that fecal indicator bacteria do not have the same behavior and persistence traits as helminths, protozoa, or viruses, making fecal indicator bacteria inadequate for assessing pathogen reductions for all pathogen groups This suggests a need for awareness and capacity development around pathogens found in excreta (Table 1).
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