BMC Public Health · 4 authors, 4 centres
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A scoping review identified eight articles describing Animal-inclusive WASH interventions in sub-Saharan Africa published between 2016 and 2022, finding that interventions such as child-safe spaces, managing animal co-habitation, and educational programs were delivered alongside standard WASH but no novel intervention types emerged beyond those identified in a 2017 review.
This scoping review followed PRISMA guidelines to map A-WASH interventions in sub-Saharan Africa published between January 2016 and October 2022, searching PubMed, Europe PMC, CabDirect, and Web of Science. Eight eligible articles describing eight distinct interventions were identified. Interventions fell into three categories: child-safe spaces, managing human-animal co-habitation, and educational programs encouraging appropriate faecal waste removal. All interventions were embedded within larger human-centric WASH programs and targeted the health of children aged one month to five years. Six of the eight interventions were evaluated using randomised controlled trials, indicating a growing commitment to rigorous evidence generation. However, heterogeneous outcome measures precluded formal comparison of intervention efficacy. Key limitations identified across studies included small sample sizes, short follow-up durations, confounding factors, and seasonality effects. The authors note the need for standardised outcome measures to enable future meta-analyses and stress that evaluation of scalability and sustainability remains lacking.
