Scaling Safe Water Practices to Reduce Child Mortality in Nigeria

The project began with health facility interventions, where pregnant women and mothers of young children received vouchers redeemable for WaterGuard+ chlorine products. Building on lessons learned, the program later transitioned to community level interventions, engaging village leaders, community health workers (CHWs), and volunteer mobilizers to expand access and uptake.

The objective project is to test and refine delivery models that increase household use of chlorine for water treatment, reduce diarrheal disease, and ultimately lower child mortality.

• Voucher program: Distribution of chlorine vouchers through antenatal clinics and pharmacies, supported by enrollment surveys and redemption tracking.
• Community demonstrations: Local leaders and CHWs organized sensitization meetings, showing households how to correctly dose chlorine.
• Household surveys: Enumerators conducted baseline and follow up surveys, including water testing for chlorine residuals and E. coli.
• Randomized controlled trial: By 2025, the project expanded to 30 communities (20 treatment, 10 control) to rigorously assess impact.

• Successfully enrolled thousands of women across 10 health facilities in Kano, issuing vouchers and supporting redemption.
• Demonstrated high feasibility of community based chlorine distribution, with strong engagement from local leaders and CHWs.
• Household surveys showed increased chlorine uptake and improved water quality, with reductions in diarrheal incidence among children.
• Transitioned from pilot to randomized controlled trial, positioning the project to generate robust evidence for national scale up.