Improving Access to Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Leads to Healthier Communities in Tajikistan

By Khosiyatkhon Komilova, Former communications specialist, IntraHealth International The new school latrines in Yovon district, Tajikistan. Photo by  Komilova Khosiyatkhon for IntraHealth International.April 21, 2020Ruzigul Mamatkulova is a nurse at a primary health center in Muminobod of the Khatlon province, a village in the Nosiri Khusrav district in Tajikistan. She had never thought about the importance of latrines at medical facilities until the USAID-funded Feed the Future Tajikistan Health and Nutrition Activity organized a health fair for patients from the surrounding villages. The activity is working to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions in the Khatlon district. It integrates high-quality maternal, newborn, and child health care at the family, community, clinical, and national levels, with an emphasis on nutrition, sanitation, and hygiene.The patients at the health fair were mostly women of reproductive age and teenage girls who required urine tests.“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a latrine, and we had to send them to neighboring houses,” Ruzigul says.“This made me realize the importance of a toilet at the primary health center, and we collaborated with USAID’s activity to build one at our medical facility.”
Source: IntraHealth International - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Community Engagement Community Health Workers Source Type: news