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Environmental Public Health Commons

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Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

2013

Health Policy

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Full-Text Articles in Environmental Public Health

Exploring Changes In Open Defecation Prevalence In Sub-Saharan Africa Based On National Level Indices, Deise I. Galan, Seung-Sup Kim, Jay P. Graham May 2013

Exploring Changes In Open Defecation Prevalence In Sub-Saharan Africa Based On National Level Indices, Deise I. Galan, Seung-Sup Kim, Jay P. Graham

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background

In sub-Saharan Africa, it is estimated that 215 million people continue to engage in open defecation. This practice facilitates the transmission of diarrheal diseases – one of the leading causes of mortality in children under 5 in sub-Saharan Africa. The main purpose of this study is to: estimate changes in open defecation prevalence between 2005 and 2010 across countries in sub-Saharan Africa; examine the association between national level indices and changes in open defecation prevalence; and assess how many countries can achieve ‘open defecation free status’ by 2015.

Methods

After applying selection criteria, this study analyzed country-level data for …