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Water Sanitation Hygiene

topic v1.0.0 2026-04-05 Agent-extracted

Impact of water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure on health outcomes and economic development in low and middle income countries

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Domain: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Impact of water and sanitation infrastructure on health outcomes and economic development in low and middle income countries

Period: 2000-present Population: Low and middle income countries Level: macro

Overview

6
Constructs
4
Findings
3
Engines

Constructs

safe_drinking_water_access Safe Drinking Water Access

Percentage of population using safely managed drinking water services as defined by WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme

basic_sanitation_access Basic Sanitation Access

Percentage of population using at least basic sanitation services including flush and pit latrines

hygiene_facility_access Hygiene Facility Access

Percentage of population with basic handwashing facility with soap and water on premises

diarrheal_disease_mortality Diarrheal Disease Mortality

Deaths from diarrheal diseases per 100000 population per year including cholera dysentery and rotavirus

stunting_prevalence_under5 Stunting Prevalence Under 5

Percentage of children under 5 years with height-for-age z-score below minus 2 standard deviations from median

wash_investment_per_capita WASH Investment Per Capita

Annual per capita expenditure on water supply and sanitation infrastructure measured in constant USD

Findings

Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions yield benefit-cost ratios ranging from 5:1 to 28:1 depending on intervention type. Halving the population without access would generate $84 billion in annual benefits.

Direction: positive Confidence: moderate Effect: BCR 5:1 to 28:1; $84B annual benefits Method: Cost-benefit economic modeling

Safe drinking water access is negatively associated with diarrheal disease mortality across low and middle income countries

Direction: negative Confidence: strong Method: systematic review and meta-analysis

Basic sanitation coverage is negatively associated with stunting prevalence in children under five years of age

Direction: negative Confidence: moderate Method: cross-country regression analysis

WASH interventions demonstrate approximately 4 to 1 benefit-cost ratio in developing countries when accounting for health productivity and time savings

Direction: positive Confidence: strong Method: cost-benefit analysis

Engines

ols_regression meta_analysis cost_benefit_analysis

Sources

Guy Hutton, Laurence Haller (2004). Evaluation of the Costs and Benefits of Water and Sanitation Improvements at the Global Level
Pruss-Ustun, Annette, Bartram, Jamie, Clasen, Thomas, Colford, John, Cumming, Oliver, Curtis, Valerie (2014). Burden of disease from inadequate water sanitation and hygiene in low and middle income settings DOI
Wolf, Jennyfer, Hunter, Paul, Freeman, Matthew, Cumming, Oliver, Clasen, Thomas, Bartram, Jamie, Pruss-Ustun, Annette (2018). Systematic review meta-analysis and dose-response assessment of the relationship between water sanitation and hygiene and diarrhoeal diseases DOI

Tags

topicwash-development

Details

Domain: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Impact of water and sanitation infrastructure on health outcomes and economic development in low and middle income countries

Temporal scope: 2000-present | Population: Low and middle income countries

Key Findings

  • Water, sanitation and hygiene interventions yield benefit-cost ratios ranging from 5:1 to 28:1 depending on intervention type. Halving the population without access would generate $84 billion in annual benefits. (positive, moderate)
  • Safe drinking water access is negatively associated with diarrheal disease mortality across low and middle income countries (negative, strong)
  • Basic sanitation coverage is negatively associated with stunting prevalence in children under five years of age (negative, moderate)
  • WASH interventions demonstrate approximately 4 to 1 benefit-cost ratio in developing countries when accounting for health productivity and time savings (positive, strong)

Installation

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praxis_import_pax("water-sanitation-hygiene.pax.tar.gz", install=True)