Improving Community Sanitation and Hygiene Performance in Kerwa Sub County through the Application of Statistical Thinking

Abstract

Sanitation refers to the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and faeces whereas Hygiene is a set of personal practices that contribute to good health. It includes things like hand-washing, bathing and so forth. Objectives: The purpose and rationale of this project was to improve sanitation and hygiene in Kerwa Sub county. The project (2years) employed both qualitative and quantitative mixed designs in Kerwa Sub county, located, in Yumbe district, Uganda. Implementation period was from April, 2015 to November, 2016. The total number of households with latrines increased from 775 (43.3%) in the baseline to 1215 (67.8%) in the first year of project implementation then to 1579 (88.2%) in the second year. Similarly, open defecation dropped from 56.7% in the baseline to 32.2% in the first year of project implementation and further to 11.8% in the second year. Hygiene status, measured using hand washing, almost remained the same between baseline and first year of project implementation at about 0.9%. It significantly improved to 20.8% in the second year. Through application of statistical thinking, final reporting time reduced by 60 days, from 210 days before statistical thinking approach to 150 days after the application. Statistical thinking remains a key process of continuous quality improvement in any industry.