Hygiene & Environmental Health

During the last few years, there has been an increased level of commitment towards hygiene and environmental health services in Ethiopia. Key policies such as the National Sanitation Strategy and Protocol and the Millennium Sanitation Movement approach are enabling frameworks that serve to motivate and align relevant actors to speed up sanitation coverage and hygiene behavioral change.

In addition, three key ministries – Health, Water Resources and Education have joined up to launch the National WASH program which provides a strategic framework to achieve the national vision of universal access to hygiene sanitation by EFY 2004.

The objectives of this program are to:

· Increase latrine coverage and ensure facilities are properly handled, sustained and utilized;

· Promote communal solid waste disposal sites;

· Improve medical and other waste management system in public and private health institutions;

·Increase drinking water quality monitoring; and monitor food safety and food processing industries.

Health Extension Workers (HEW) are being utilized to carry out key activities of the program. HEWs promote personal and environmental hygiene and provide support to the community by increasing awareness and involvement on safe water supply and prevention of water contamination, promote behavioral change to improve food safety and control vector born diseases, build a “Healthy House Model”, and work with the relevant institutions in order to ensure irrigation development projects and water conservation schemes.