World Health Day - A Fairer Healthier World for Everyone

Each year the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrates World Health Day on the 7th April, and this year the focus is on building a fairer, healthier world for everyone.

Over a year has passed since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. Not only has the pandemic shone a light on the importance of safe water and good hygiene but, as the WHO states, it has also 'highlighted how pre-existing inequities have put already-vulnerable communities at even greater risk'. This is why at Dig Deep we continue to work hand in hand with the local government to ensure everyone has clean water, safe toilets and good hygiene - forever. Since 2007 we’ve reached 120,000 people in Kenya but this is just the start, we’re now scaling up to reach the entire county of Bomet.

The communities that we serve face deadly illnesses all the time: coronavirus is just the latest addition. Where we work in Kenya 80% of people have no access to clean water or soap, and no protection against viruses and diseases. They face risks such as waterborne diseases, environmental pollution, and poor menstrual health on a daily basis.

At Dig Deep, we know that solving these types of problems requires joined up thinking and collaborative working. This is why this World Health Day we are working with the Bomet County Government to roll out a household survey that will interview over 12,000 people, collecting vital data that will inform change and help build a fairer and healthier future for the people of Kenya.

Our data led approach

Right now, our team made up of 40 enumerators are conducting surveys across Bomet County, Kenya, to gather detailed information on the kind of access the people that we serve have to water, sanitation and hygiene access. This includes households, schools and hospitals, as well as public infrastructure like pipes, tanks and treatment facilities. This vital information will be used to inform our future strategy and establish the lifecycle costs of reaching everyone in Bomet County with clean water, safe toilets and good hygiene- forever.

This survey is one of the major steps within our 5 year strategy. It is also a complex programme which relies on two key principles that will ensure the data gathered can be put to effective use in the future.

These are that the data is disaggregated and geo-located.

• By ‘Disaggregating’ the data, we are able to analyse specific problems by gender, size of household and age. By doing this we are able to look for correlations between datasets that could give us a better understanding of why problems exist, and how they can be solved.

• By attaching a 'Geo-location' to the data we will be able to compare people’s access between communities and create tailored and appropriate solutions to problems faced by each community.

This survey is essential as it is collecting detailed information showing the situation on the ground. From here we will be able to support the county government in using this information to create a plan for achieving universal, sustainable access that takes into account the voices and needs of everyone, including the most marginalised.

Written by Joe Hook, Programmes Officer As always if you have any questions or would like to know more about the work that we do here at Dig Deep please do get in touch. You can reach out to Joe Hook, our Programmes Officer for further information about CLTS via the following email: joe@digdeep.org.uk