POUZN Supports Expansion of Point-Of-Use Water Treatment Program in Kenya

In Kenya, mortality among children under five is high, with one in every nine children dying before his or her fifth birthday - increasing from 96.1 to 114.6 deaths per 1,000 during the period 1999-2003. Diarrheal disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in this age group, largely because of contaminated water and unsafe storage and handling practices.

The Social Marketing Plus for Diarrheal Disease Control (POUZN) initiative, implemented by Abt Associates (Abt) and Population Services International (PSI), was invited by USAID/Kenya to expand PSI’s safe water program in order to reach a greater number of families in rural and underserved areas. PSI launched its point-of-use (POU) water treatment product, WaterGuard, in May 2003. Prior to this, chemical treatment of water was virtually unknown with less than 7 percent of the population having ever used a POU chemical water treatment. Today, awareness of WaterGuard is high (74 percent), and over 14 percent of households reported using WaterGuard in 2005.

Through POUZN, PSI/Kenya is expanding the WaterGuard program, increasing accessibility to, and demand for, POU products, and building upon the current POU program by leveraging partnerships (with both US-based and local non-governmental, community-based and faith-based organizations). POUZN works to reach deeper into poor and vulnerable communities with new channels of distribution, promotion and IEC messages, with a particular focus on Kenya’s Coast province, which has the highest diarrhea prevalence rates in the country.