60 months post intervention

Groundbreaking results from the latest phase of the MapSan trial show that children living since birth in households served by WSUP’s sanitation intervention were 31% less likely to be stunted.

Evidence shows an increased height-for-age, weight-for-age and weight-for-height among children living in the sanitation intervention compounds compared with the similar controls.  The shaded area on the left of the graphs here indicate ‘stunting’, and the difference between the purple and the orange graphs show the proportion of children no longer in the stunted category.

In addition to differences in the children’s weight and height, large reductions in pathogen exposure were observed.  Such reductions are likely to be the mechanism driving improved growth outcomes in children living in the intervention compounds.

It is clear from these results that the WSUP’s intervention model holds great promise for improving lives.

The study protocol for this 60-month follow-up research was published in the BMJ:  https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/13/6/e067941

The preprints of this study were published and can be accessed here: ”Effects of urban sanitation upgrades on child growth: cross-sectional analysis of long-term growth outcomes following a non-randomised controlled trial” and “Effects of urban sanitation upgrades on enteric pathogen exposure: cross-sectional analysis of stool pathogen detection following a non-randomised controlled trial.”