An interesting research article posted recently on plos.org covers the findings of two large studies conducted in India where instances of child health/morbidity weren’t necessarily reduced by improved sanitation quality. Furthermore, it was found that the value of sanitation was only improved through effective community coverage.
“We hypothesis that the value of sanitation does not come directly from use of improved sanitation but from improving community coverage. If this is so we further hypothesise that the relationship between sanitation coverage and child health will be non-linear and that most of any health improvement will accrue as sanitation becomes universal.”
Past history/sentiment has shown that if we could just improve the quality of sanitation that, naturally, incidents of malnutrition and death in children would decline. This research article posits that, that notion is only part of the solution.