Understanding the facilitators and barriers to effective water and sanitation interventions for characterizing spatial trends of Shigella infections in Jiangsu, China

Home to the world’s largest population, China faces scarce water resources and water contamination problems are causing a significant portion of China’s rural population to live without access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Exposure to water contaminated with human feces can cause severe diarrheal diseases, especially among children under the age of 5. In the Eastern province of Jiangsu, a significant number of diarrhea incidences are caused by shigellosis, or watery diarrhea. Fortunately, shigellosis can be effectively prevented by well-implemented water and sanitation interventions. The key objective of my research is to understand the facilitators and barriers to effective water and sanitation interventions, and how they can be used to characterize the prevalence of shigellosis among children in rural areas. The findings of this project will not only provide up-to-date evidence to affected communities, but will also provide various stakeholders (governmental agencies, local water industries, and nongovernmental organizations (NGO)) critical information needed to implement more sensible
solutions and mitigation measures.

Faculty Supervisor:

Susan J. Elliott, Su-Yin Tan

Student:

Sabrina Li

Partner:

Discipline:

Resources and environmental management

Sector:

University:

University of Waterloo

Program:

Globalink Research Award