Hygiene promotion refers to a wide
range of activities that encourage people to change their behaviour to reduce
their vulnerability to water and sanitation related diseases by preventing faecal-oral
disease transmission. Examples of common hygiene promotion messages include:
drinking water only from safe sources; proper disposal of human excreta; storing
and protecting drinking water from contamination; and, washing hands after going
to the toilet and before handling food. It is important to resist wishing to
pursue a “one size fits all” template for carrying out such activities.
Efforts to apply the same approach in different social and cultural contexts
are highly questionable. To develop locally appropriate hygiene promotion activities,
it is important for field staff to work closely with community members - especially
with women – to identify existing poor hygiene practices, develop appropriate
replacement practices, and how best to communicate messages. In contrast, hygiene
promotion initiatives that are developed and presented in a top-down manner
will likely be ignored or rejected by community members.
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