Poverty Research - Background Papers

About

Countries

Data & Research

Learning

News

Projects & Operations

Publications

Topics

Home > Data & Research > Research > Programs > Poverty Research > Publications > Background Papers

Handwashing behavior change at scale : evidence from a randomized evaluation in Vietnam

Author:	Chase, Claire; Do, Quy-Toan;	Collection Title:	Policy Research working paper ; no. WPS 6207Impact Evaluation series ; no. IE 71
Country:	Vietnam;	Date Stored:	2012/09/24
Document Date:	2012/09/01	Document Type:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English	Major Sector:	Water, sanitation and flood protection
Rel. Proj ID:	VN-Impact Evaluation Of Scaling Up Handwashing Behavior Change Pro -- -- P129944;	Region:	East Asia and Pacific
Report Number:	WPS6207	Sub Sectors:	General water, sanitation and flood protection sector
SubTopics:	Hygiene Promotion and Social Marketing; Health Monitoring & Evaluation; Food & Beverage Industry; Disease Control & Prevention; Population Policies	Volume No:	1 of 1

Summary: Handwashing with soap, which has been shown to reduce diarrhea in young children by as much as 48 percent, is frequently mentioned as one of the most effective and inexpensive ways to save children's lives. Yet rates of handwashing remain very low throughout the world. Handwashing with soap campaigns are de rigueur in developing countries, but little is known about their effectiveness. Few have been rigorously evaluated, and none on a large-scale. This paper evaluates a large-scale handwashing campaign in three provinces of Vietnam in 2010. Exposure to the campaign resulted in a slight increase in the availability of handwashing materials in the household, and caregivers in the treatment group were more likely to report washing hands at some of the times emphasized by the campaign. However, observed handwashing with soap at these times is low, and there isn't any difference between the treatment and control groups. As a result, no impact on health or productivity is found. These results suggest that even under seemingly optimal conditions, where knowledge and access to soap and water are not main constraints, behavior change campaigns that take place on a large scale face tradeoffs in terms of intensity and effectiveness.


Official Documents Official, scanned versions of documents (may include signatures, etc.)
File Type		Description	File Size (mb)

	PDF 52 pages	Official version*	3.64 (approx.)
	Text	Text version**

	See documents related to this project

* The official version is derived from scanning the final, paper copy of the document and is the official,
archived version including all signatures, charts, etc.

** The text version is the OCR text of the final scanned version and is not an accurate representation of the final text.
It is provided solely to benefit users with slow connectivity.

Permanent URL for this page: http://go.worldbank.org/TAXUANDMW0