May 2, 2023

By Annie Korp

Water, sanitation and hygiene practices are a challenge in many developing countries, including Tajikistan in Central Asia.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), these practices, which share the public health designation “WASH,” are a top factor contributing to death and disability for households in the country.

Research led by Brandy-Joe Milliron, PhD, an associate professor in the Nutrition Science department in Drexel University’s College of Nursing and Health Professions, and Ann Klassen, PhD, a professor in the Dornsife School of Public Health's Community Health and Prevention department, described WASH and other food and cooking practices in Tajik households to determine possible interventions and improve health and nutrition.

Milliron and Klassen spoke with the Drexel News Blog about the study, published in the Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, the importance of WASH practices and how their findings suggest which Tajik households could benefit from WASH interventions.

Through Dornsife's Community Health and Prevention department, "Drexel has held a Long-Term Agreement for Services with UNICEF in the area of Communication for Development (C4D)" since 2013, explained Klassen. "C4D is a key strategy for public health partnerships with local stakeholders and communities, to build health education campaigns at the community level." 

Read the full news article on the Drexel News Blog: Q+A: Improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in Tajikistan

Learn more about Drexel Dornsife's WASH certificate, which is offered by the Office of Global Health in partnership with the Desert Research Institute of the University of Nevada, Reno and the non-governmental aid organization World Vision International.