Three studies on cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis have been published in the latest issue of the Journal of Water and Health [1, 2, 3]. The first two are based on earlier work published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Highlights from these include:

• Household water treatment was found to be the most cost-effective intervention. A policy shift to include better household water quality management to complement the continuing expansion of coverage and upgrading of services would appear to be a cost-effective health intervention in many developing countries.
• Household-based chlorination was the most cost-effective where resources are limited; household filtration yields additional health gains at higher budget levels..
• The main contributor to economic benefits was time savings associated with better access to water and sanitation services, contributing at least 80% to overall economic benefits.
• One-way sensitivity analysis showed that even under pessimistic data assumptions the potential economic benefits outweighed the costs in all developing world regions.
• In addition to cost-effectiveness, choices among water quality interventions must be guided by local conditions, user preferences, potential for cost recovery from beneficiaries and other factors.

[1] Haller, L., Hutton, G. and Bartram, J. (2007). Estimating the costs and health benefits of water and sanitation improvements at global level. Journal of water and health ; vol. 5, no, 4 : p. 467–480. doi:10.2166/wh.2007.008

[2] Hutton, G., Haller, L. and Bartram, J. (2007). Global cost-benefit analysis of water supply and sanitation interventions. Journal of water and health ; vol. 5, no, 4 ; p. 481–502. doi:10.2166/wh.2007.009

[3] Thomas Clasen, T. ... [et al.] (2007). Cost-effectiveness of water quality interventions for preventing diarrhoeal disease in developing countries
Journal of water and health ; vol. 5, no, 4 ; p. 599–608. doi:10.2166/wh.2007.010

Contact: 1. Laurence Haller, laurence.haller@terre.unige.ch, 2. Guy Hutton, guy.hutton@dev-sol-int.com, 3. Thomas Clasen, 5389thomas.clasen@lshtm.ac.uk

Tags: financing, water quality