A case-control study on the impact of improved sanitation on diarrhoea morbidity in Lesotho

A health impact evaluation of the Rural Sanitation Pilot Project in Mohale's Hoek district, Lesotho, was conducted from October 1987 to September 1988. A clinic-based case--control design was used to investigate the impact of improved sanitation on diarrhoea morbidity in young children. The results indicate that under 5-year-olds from households with a latrine may experience 24 percent fewer episodes of diarrhoea than such children from households without a latrine (odds ratio = 0.76; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.58-1.01). The impact of latrines on diarrhoea was greater in those households that used more water, practised better personal hygiene, and where the mothers had a higher level of education or worked outside the home. In common with studies conducted in Malawi, Phillippines and Sri Lank, little evidence was found that the relationship between latrine ownership and diarrhoea was confounded by socioeconomic status or environmental variables. For a samble of cases and controls, data on exposure status (presence or absence of a latrine) that were collected by interview at the clinics agreed closely with those obtained by observation during a home visit

Para un mejor rendimiento de las inversiones en atención de salud / Getting the best value for money in health care

Un estudio de las repercusiones de una propuesta de establecer una escuela de medicina y un hospital docente con 600 camas en Lesotho ha convencido al gobierno de que sus escasos recursos podrían invertirse más eficazmente en la atención primaria y en otros programas que pueden mejorar directamente la situación sanitaria del país

Dos pasos adelante... y uno atrás? / Two steps forward- and one back?

En Croacia, lo mismo que en el conjunto de Yugoslavia, el inmenso progreso económico registrado desde la Segunda Guerra Mundial se ha acompañado de una marcada disminución de la prevalencia de enfermedades infecciosas y parasitosis. Por otro lado se ha producido un notable aumento de las enfermedades crónicas, atribuible a la evolución de los modos de vida. Para los países del Tercer Mundo en pleno desarrollo esta circunstancia debe constituir una oportuna advertencia

Getting the best value for money in health care

A study of the implications of a proposal to establish a college of medicine and an associated 600-bed teaching hospital in Lesotho has convinced the government that its scarce resources could be more effectively spent on primary care and other programmes directly capable of improving health status