Factors influencing Point-of-Use (PoU) water interventions in Ghana: considerations for designing a behaviour change strategy

Diarrhoeal diseases continue to be a major cause of under-five morbidity and mortality for Ghanaian children, mainly due to faecally contaminated household drinking water and unhygienic practices. Promoting household water treatment and safe storage products and technologies alongside investments in water supply systems is a cost-effective alternative to reducing diarrhoeal and other water-related diseases due to drinking water contamination.

This paper, based on a literature review that has been updated, summarizes recent literature in Ghana related to diarrhoeal disease prevalence, access to improved drinking water, and household water storage and treatment practices (including different treatment technologies). The paper also highlights the facilitating factors and barriers related to adoption of improved water storage and treatment behaviours at the household level and provides guidance for developing an effective behaviour change strategy.

The literature review was prepared for the USAID Hygiene Improvement Project (HIP) to better understand the state of household water treatment and storage efforts in Ghana as part of its efforts to support to West Africa Water Initiative field partners to strengthen their behaviour change approaches.