Turkana county and USAID Nawiri will study whether poor hygiene contributes to widespread malnutrition among children younger than five years, and what to do about it.
It's well known that healthy children and adults observe good hygiene in toilet habits, overall cleanliness and hand washing.
The study will involve taking a child's medical history, measuring body size, collecting faecal samples over a period of time and studying the child's nutrition and hygiene habits over time.
The research is expected to be carried out in Turkana South. Dates, size of the sample and length of study have not been established as yet.
The county technical team from headquarters and the subcounty will bring together experts in laboratory work, microbiology Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (Wash) and public health.
The will identity faecal pathogen profiles and transmission pathways.
The team hypothesises that diarrhoea, mostly due to poor hygiene, could be one of the causes of malnutrition because the body loses vital nutrients.
In Turkana, one in every five children is considered to be wasted while one in three is stunted due to malnutrition. Loss of fluids through long-diarrhoea and vomiting can cause veins and arteries to collapse, causing death.
Bonventure Ameyo, director of preventive and promotive medicine and public health, said the policy is made robust when it is based on strong evidence, as likely with this study's findings.
“It is important to identify different entry points in the life cycle from infancy through childhood and adolescence for possible interventions. These can work towards reducing mortality in general, reduction in under-fives mortality being the most challenging," Ameyo said.
He said generating evidence about the range of household faeco-oral pathogens that predispose children to malnutrition will be crucial in informing policy decisions.
Gabriel Ekuwan, the head of USAID Nawiri, Turkana, said the organisation, in partnership with the county, had carried out studies for the last one year and half to determine the causes of persistence acute malnutrition in the Turkana.
“Further analysing the research findings implications has made USAID Nawiri and the county responsive to challenges and also informed strategies to address the problems," he sad.
After sharing the study’s methodology in a plenary session, the county health team shared their concerns such as sample size, sample collection and analysis, criteria of the study and use of county government laboratory facilities.
Deputy director of health promotion and disease control Daniel Esimit urged USAID Nawiri to build the capacity of health officers' on research protocols. In this way, they will be able to carry out their own studies.
(Edited by V. Graham)
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