Community Participation in Water Supply Projects as a Stimulus to Primary Health Care: Lessons Learned from Aid-Supported and Other Projects in Indonesia and Togo

摘要

The report summarizes research on the influence of community participation in water supply projects on the subsequent participation of community members in other primary health care and child survival activities. Field research focused on four Agency for International Development projects in Indonesia and Togo. The findings are important for all primary health care, child survival, and water supply policy-making and programming. Experience indicates that, where water supply and sanitation projects meet an important felt need of the community, they provide an effective entry point for primary health care activities in that community and thereby increase the impact of primary health care interventions. Improving a community's water supply may not only improve health through clean water but may also serve as a stimulus or catalyst for increasing participation in other primary health care activities.