Evidence-Based Health Behavior Interventions for Cholera: Lessons from an Outbreak Investigation in India

Abstract

In rural India, since 2014, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Mission) has ensured construction of more than 100 million toilets and is now focusing on reinforcement of sanitation behaviors. We report a cholera outbreak in a remote village in western India where open defecation was implicated in causation. A water pipeline was damaged in the vicinity of a stream flowing from a site of open defecation. Despite the availability of a toilet facility in the majority of households (75%), open defecation was widely practiced (62.8%). Many reported not washing hands with soap and water before eating (78.5%) and after defecation (61.1%). The study emphasizes the need for focused health behavior studies and evidence-based interventions to reduce the occurrence of cholera outbreaks. This could be the last lap in the path toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6, which aims to “ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.”

Predictive Intelligence for Cholera in Ukraine?

“…It is possible to save lives in the cholera-risk regions of Ukraine if actions are taken now. Hand wash Ensuring proper hand washing principles 1 Hutin et al (2003) and Rabbani and Greenough (1999) Washing hands before and after cooking and eating 2 Deoshatwar et al (2022) and Rabbani and Greenough (1999) Washing hands around sick patients 3 Snow (1856)…”