EHP is supporting a four-year program in biologically diverse systems in Madagascar, linking and integrating activities among projects in health, population, and environment (H-P-E).

The design of the integrated H-P-E household survey instrument for collecting baseline data in intervention and control communities has been completed. The baseline survey (and follow-up surveys) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the multisectoral integrated approach. The central hypothesis is that by integrating the environment (natural resource management activities) with health and population activities, programs will be more effective and sustainable.

The household survey covers three regions, and fieldwork is under way through April. Funding for the survey was provided by EHP and Taya Meva (Summit Foundation grant). The survey is implemented by Direction de la D�mographie et des Statistiques Sociales/Institut National de la Statistique, and results will be available by the end of May 2001.

For more information, contact Eckhard Kleinau ([email protected])

EHP/Nepal, with support from USAID/Nepal, organized a five-day workshop that included personnel from the Ministry of Health; representatives from nongovernmental organizations, USAID/G/PHN, and EHP/Washington; and other partners to discuss and select a community-based intervention strategy for the prevention and control of infectious diseases�in particular, kala-azar (leishmaniasis) and malaria. Interventions will be pilot-tested in two districts in Nepal in collaboration with district-level Ministry of Health staff and village development committees. This is the first initiative of its kind to be designed for improved management and control of infectious diseases through a primarily community-based approach.

For more information on the activity, please contact Lisa Nichols ([email protected])

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO THE HATO MAYOR PILOT PROJECT

USAID/Dominican Republic and the National Water Supply and Sewerage Institute (INAPA) are working together and cofinancing a pilot project to decentralize rural water supply and sanitation services in Hato Mayor Province. The pilot project will develop and test strategies to implement a decentralization strategy focusing on community participation in the construction of rural water supply and sanitation systems through the application of the Total Community Participation (TCP) model. Based on lessons learned, the pilot strategy will be scaled up to the national level.

The rural water supply implementation unit (Acuenductos Rurales [AR]) of INAPA will serve as a normative body working in collaboration with nongovernmental organizations and other contracted entities. USAID, through EHP, will assist INAPA in developing the capacity within AR to carry out its new role as the normative body to implement INAPA�s strategy of decentralization of rural water supply and sanitation systems nationwide.

For information on the activity, please contact Eddy Perez ([email protected])

Last year, EHP served as the secretariat for the Indoor Air Pollution Conference, which was sponsored by USAID and the World Health Organization. In attendance were approximately 50 international participants, including representatives from donor agencies and development organizations, as well as academics and researchers.

The conference had four major objectives:

• To promote a dialogue on health impacts of indoor air pollution and household energy use, interventions to reduce exposure, and policies and strategies that contribute to sustainable economic and social development
• To identify priority research and policy initiatives for effective interventions
• To recommend an agenda for action
• To identify the next steps needed to introduce and coordinate the action agenda

Five background papers were presented at the conference. Two have been published as journal articles. Links to the two papers are now available at: http://www.ehproject.org/Library/WebliographyEH.htm

Some agriculture practices and systems (e.g., crop selection and design of irrigation systems) may contribute significantly to malaria transmission. Last year, EHP supported a discussion on linkages between malaria and agriculture at the annual meeting of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). This session was organized in collaboration with the USAID Office of Agriculture, Food Security, and Economic Development (AFSED) and the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Following the meeting, the CGIAR established the System-wide Initiative on Malaria and Agriculture (SIMA) to improve understanding of the linkages between malaria and agriculture.

In May 2001, EHP cosponsored the first conference for SIMA in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants included representatives from six countries in East and Southern Africa, as well as representatives from several CGIAR centers, AFSED, and IDRC. Participants discussed the objectives, scope, and organization of SIMA and developed a clear set of themes that will be used to guide and define specific research projects.

One of EHP�s objectives is to demonstrate the effectiveness of integrated vector management (IVM) programs. Changing agriculture practices and systems in ways that reduce malaria transmission could be an important part of IVM. EHP may provide financial support for one or more SIMA research projects that are within the scope of IVM. SIMA is also planning other conferences in West and Central Africa, Latin America, and Asia.

For more information, please contact Gene Brantly ([email protected])

What's New on Other Pages

A. Key Messages (a new page that states EHP's key messages)

B. Info Services

Webliography—Papers from the International Consultation on Indoor Air Pollution

• Household energy, health and development, by N. Bruce. IN:
  J Epidemiol Community Health 2001; 55:221-222

• Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge, by N. Bruce et al. IN: WHO Bulletin 78(9): 2000, p. 1078-1098 

• National burden of disease in India from indoor air pollution, by
  K. Smith. IN: PNAS Online 2000 97(24): 13286

Environmental Health Updates:

• June 8 (Acta Tropica April 2001; PubMed; State of the World's Cities 2001; IRC Website on Community Water Supply Management; etc.
• May 25 (Malaria as a Re-emerging Disease)
• May 16 (PubMed; Netmark Africa; Arsenic in Drinking Water; etc.)
• May 4 (Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition March 2001; Impacts of health-care wastes; etc.)

Malaria Bulletins:

• June 17
• May 31
• May 20
• May 4

C. Linked Sites:

• IRC Community Water Supply Management

D. Meeting Alert  

• 11th Stockholm Water Symposium, August 13-16, 2001
• 27th WEDC Conference, Zambia, August 20-24, 2001

 

Previous Issues of "What's New?"

The main topics or countries discussed are given in parentheses.

May 2001 (Dominican Republic, SIMA Conference, Nairobi, Madagascar, Mozambique, Nepal)
March 2001 (Nicaragua, Madagascar, Africa, DDT cost comparison)
January 2001 at EHP (EHP Activities, E-Newsletter, National Malaria Control Programs in 4 African Countries, Congo, Decentralization in Latin America, Peru, WSSCC Forum, Global WS&S Assessment from WHO/UNICEF)
November 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Madagascar, SANICONN)
September 2000 at EHP (Nepal/Regional, EHP and E-conferences)
July 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, Malaria Vaccine Development, "Water for the World")
May/June 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, International Consultation on Indoor Air Pollution)
April 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, Madagascar, Mozambique)
March 2000 at EHP (Benin, South Africa, Eritrea, Madagascar)
February 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, Paraguay, Ukraine, Mozambique and Eritrea)
January 2000 at EHP (Nicaragua, EHP Lessons Learned)

Previous Issues of "What's New?" by country

• Eritrea

  • February 2000

  • March 2000

• Madagascar

  • March 2000

  • April 2000

  • November 2000

  • March 2001

• Mozambique

  • February 2000

  • April 2001

  • January 2001

• Nepal

  • February 2000

  • September 2000

• Nicaragua

  • January 2000

  • February 2000

  • April 2000

  • May/June 2000

  • July 2000

  • November 2000

  • March 2001

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