Effectiveness of a rural sanitation programme on diarrhoea, soil-transmitted helminth infection and malnutrition in India

This report is based on a cluster-randomised evaluation by Clasen et al. conducted in 100 villages of Odisha, India to test the effectiveness of a rural sanitation intervention that was part of the Government of India’s Total Sanitation Campaign. Researchers found no evidence that this sanitation programme reduced exposure to faecal contamination or prevented diarrhoea, soil-transmitted helminth infection or child malnutrition. These results are in contrast with systematic reviews that have reported significant health gains from rural household sanitation interventions.