Diarrheal diseases kill around two million children in poor countries each year. A great deal is known about how to treat diarrheal diseases, but much less is known about the health impacts and cost-effectiveness of various environmental health interventions aimed at preventing diarrhea and other water-borne diseases, such as water and sanitation interventions and interventions aimed at achieving health behavior change. This new study focuses on adults with young children and seeks to understand the benefits of targeting point-of-use (POU) water treatments to vulnerable populations, the effect of providing POU water treatments in bulk outside of retail settings, and whether distribution through clinics makes POU water treatment and diarrhea more salient to parents.

The study is conducted in Busia district, Western Kenya. Study participants are recruited when they visit a government health center with a young child, and randomly assigned to one of five groups:  i) Option to purchase Waterguard bottles at discounted price (half market price); (ii) A free 1-year supply of Waterguard through monthly coupon redemption; (iii) A free large bottle of Aquaguard, enough to treat the household water for 4 months; (iv) Provision of a free Baby Water drinking Kit (a special bottle to keep baby water, baby cup, a dropper & a free Waterguard bottle); (v) One Free trial Waterguard bottle.

IPA will measure the adoption of POU water treatment and the health impact of each marketing program through two follow up visits at the homes of recruited subjects. The first follow-up will take place 2 to 6 months after the clinic-based meeting. The second follow-up will take place 6 months later.