**Community Involvement for Better Access to Potable Water in Households in Communities of the Lake Chad Basin and of Slum Areas of Douala in Cameroon**

**Ketina Hirma Tchio-Nighie1 , Anthony Njimbia Chebe1 , Sonia Nafack1 , and Jerome Ateudjieu1,2,3** 1Meilleur Accès aux Soind de Sante (M.A. SANTE), Yaounde, Cameroon <sup>2</sup> Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medecine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang <sup>3</sup> Cameroon Ministry of Public Health

Access to potable water remains a challenge in Sahelian areas and urban slums of cities in Africa. This project was conducted to respond to households' needs regarding access to potable water in areas with the most limited access to water in Cameroon. Four health districts were targeted, including two in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) and two in Douala, the biggest city of Cameroon known to have limited access to water and a high population burden to waterborne diseases. From the findings of the households baseline survey, a program was developed involving: (i) selecting community health volunteers (CV) and training them on water treatment by chlorination and solar disinfection (SODIS),

(ii) assigning CV to visit and train households weekly for a year on these water treatment methods, and assisting them in choosing their adapted water treatment method and monitoring their skills in the chosen method. Data were collected weekly to assess households' coverage in terms of water treatment methods. Of 10790 households reached in the baseline survey, 5170 (47.9%) and 5620 (52.1%) households were located in Douala and LCB, respectively. In Douala, 292 (5.6%) and 191 (3.7%) households declared to always and sometimes treat their drinking water, respectively, with 1 (0.02%) household treated by SODIS and 142 (2.7%) by chlorination. In LCB, 188 (3.4%) and 692 (12.3%) households declared to always and sometimes treat their drinking water, respectively, with 8 (0.1%) treated by SODIS and 431 (7.7%) by chlorination. The intervention involved 120 communities with their CV that conducted 55934 household visits in a year, including 33135 (59.2%) in Douala and 22199 (39.7%) in the LCB. In Douala, water treatment was reported from 10006 (30.2%) visits, including 856 (2.6%) by SODIS and 4796 (14.5%) by chlorination. In LCB, water treatment was reported from 11548 (52.0%) visits, including 5109 (23.0%) by SODIS and 3102 (14.0%) by chlorination. This project presents an efficient intervention that can be used to autonomise communities in improving their access to potable water. Reported adhesion to proposed water treatment methods was different in Douala and LCB, suggesting that the efficiency of health interventions proposed to communities may vary according to contexts.

Ketina Hirma Tchio-Nighie1, Anthony Njimbia Chebe1, Sonia Nafack1, and Jerome Ateudjieu1,2,3

<sup>1</sup> Meilleur Accès aux Soind de Sante (M.A. SANTE), Yaounde, Cameroon

<sup>2</sup> Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medecine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang

<sup>3</sup> Cameroon Ministry of Public Health

#### Introduction

Access to potable water remains a challenge in Sahelian areas and urban slums of cities in Africa. This project was conducted to respond to households' needs regarding access to potable water in areas with the most limited access to water in Cameroon.

#### Methods

Four health districts were targeted, including two in the Lake Chad Basin (LCB) and two in Douala, the biggest city of Cameroon, known to have limited access to water and a high population burden of waterborne diseases. From the findings of households' baseline surveys, a program was developed involving: (i) selecting community health volunteers (CV) and training them on water treatment via chlorination and solar disinfection (SODIS), (ii) assigning CV to visit and train households weekly for a year on these water treatment methods, and assisting them in choosing their adapted water treatment method and monitoring their skills in the chosen method. Data were collected weekly to assess households' coverage in terms of water treatment methods.

#### Results

Of the 10790 households reached in the baseline survey, 5170 (47.9%) and 5620 (52.1%) households were located in Douala and LCB, respectively. In Douala, 292 (5.6%) and 191 (3.7%) households declared they always and sometimes treated their drinking water, respectively, with 1 (0.02%) household treating with SODIS and 142 (2.7%) with chlorination. In LCB, 188 (3.4%) and 692 (12.3%) households declared that they always and sometimes treated their drinking water, respectively, with 8 (0.1%) treating with SODIS and 431 (7.7%) with chlorination. The intervention involved 120 communities, with their CV conducting 55934 household visits in a year, including 33135 (59.2%) in Douala and 22199 (39.7%) in the LCB. In Douala, water treatment was reported from 10006 (30.2%) visits, including 856 (2.6%) with SODIS and 4796 (14.5%) with chlorination. In LCB, water treatment was reported from 11548 (52.0%) visits, including 5109 (23.0%) with SODIS and 3102 (14.0%) with chlorination.

#### Conclusions

This project presents an efficient intervention that can be used to empower communities in improving their access to potable water. The reported adhesion to proposed water treatment methods was different in Douala and LCB, suggesting that the efficiency of health interventions proposed to communities may vary according to contexts.

Community Involvement for Better Access to Potable Water in Households in Communities of the Lake Chad Basin and of Slum Areas of Douala in Cameroon
