A Global Health Research Perspective to Support Optimization of Water Supply in Kibera, Kenya

Adequate water supply can reduce the burden of diseases by allowing consumption of chemically and microbiologically safe water and by enabling the implementation of domestic, personal, and food hygiene.

The Manitou Fund awarded a short research grant for a collaborative study between the African Population and Health Research Centre (APHRC) and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) to collaborate on evaluating water supply in Kibera and identifying potential next steps and research opportunities. The study seeks to provide evidence-based recommendations to scale up and optimize water supply activities in the informal settlements of Kibera.

While the entire chain from water source to consumer will be considered as part of the proposed research, a first step will be for the research team to understand and assess water supply system in Kibera in terms of water quality, operational efficiency, and potential health benefits for the users. Out of these findings, data will be collected in selected number of households and water samples will be collected from water sources for exploratory sequencing analyses focusing on viral pathogens.
The study is expected to generate new scientific and operational evidence that will inform optimization of water supply interventions for water supply and in similar urban informal settlements across the globe and, ultimately, contribute to reducing the burden of WASH-related infectious diseases.