Effectiveness of community dialogue in promoting hygiene and sanitation in Afghanistan

Poor hygiene and sanitation practices lead to increased burden of diarrhoeal diseases which is a leading cause of death among children under five years of age. According to the Afghanistan Demographic and Health Survey the under-five mortality rate is 55 deaths per 1,000 live births in Afghanistan and diarrhoea prevalence rate is 29% among children under age of five. Considering the importance of sustained hygiene and sanitation in reduction of diarrhoea, community dialogue approach was designed and implemented in six districts of three provinces in Afghanistan. This study revealed that installation of hand washing facilities, availability of soap and safe storage of water are improved 71.6, 75.3 and 41.9 percentage points respectively and entire target communities are declared open defecation free through implementation of community dialogue approach during a year.