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Integration of Hygiene Kits into Health Service Delivery
Presenter: Cecilia Kwak, Technical Advisor, Child Survival, Population Services International

In Malawi, maternal and under-five mortality (1,120 and 133 per 1,000 live births respectively) is alarming due to high prevalence of diarrheal disease among children and low attendance of health facility deliveries and postnatal visits. To address these challenges, Population Services International/Malawi (PSI/Malawi), in collaboration with UNICEF and Malawi’s Ministry of Health (MoH), and with financial support from USAID, implemented the Hygiene Kit Pilot for Diarrheal Disease Prevention and Control from November 2006 to April 2008. The objectives of the program were to introduce and promote household water treatment, safe water storage and hand washing. By targeting pregnant women, the program aimed to determine whether the antenatal care system in Malawi was an effective new programming approach for motivating hygiene behaviors among mothers. The program distributed 15,000 hygiene kits to pregnant women in Blantyre and Salima District and promoted the use of safe water, proper hand washing, and birthing at health facilities. As incentives for antenatal care, delivery, and postnatal checks, program beneficiaries were provided with three free refills of soap and WaterGuard, a household water disinfectant provided in their hygiene kits. The project resulted in a remarkable 96% increase in observed WaterGuard use, a 67% increase in mothers who demonstrated correct procedure for handwashing with soap and that 72% of program participants made at least three antenatal visits to their local clinic during this pregnancy. PSI/Malawi looks forward to expanding upon the success of this program into new districts and more program beneficiaries.

Contact: ckwak@psi.org

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