Water use practices, water quality, and households’ diarrheal encounters in communities along the Boro-Thamalakane-Boteti river system, Northern Botswana

By G. Tubatsi, M. C. Bonyongo and M. Gondwe

Background

Diarrhea remains one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide [1–3] despite improved health technologies, management, and increased use of oral rehydration therapy [4, 5]. Worldwide, about two billion cases of diarrheal diseases are registered annually, out of which 1.9 million children under the age of 5 die particularly in developing countries. Diarrheal diseases display distinct geographical variation and seasonality [5–8] due to varying occurrence of their etiological agents in the environment [9]. Several authors [10–13] attributed the burden of diarrheal diseases to the environment and associated risk factors, particularly unsafe drinking water from open water sources, poor sanitation, and poor hygiene. While causes of diarrheal diseases are multi factorial, the use of untreated water harboring diarrheal pathogens [10] remains a significant contributor to most outbreaks [11, 12].

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