Exposure to Sewage from On-site Sanitation and Child Health: A Spatial Analysis of Linkages and Externalities in Peri-Urban Bolivia

Exposure to fecal contamination is a leading cause of childhood infectious diseases inlow- and middle-income countries. Low-quality sanitation infrastructure and inadequate maintenance can make on-site solutions such as latrines connected to septic tanks and cesspools prone to spillage, exposing children to sewage. This paper uses a unique dataset with independent verification of sewage in and around the land parcels of more than 20,000 households with access to on-site sanitation in peri-urban Bolivia. The aim is to analyze the relationship between exposure to sewage from overflowed sanitation infrastructure and the incidence of diarrhea in children under age five. The presence of sewage is associated with a 4 percentage point increase in the probability of diarrhea incidence—a relative increase of 22 percent. That statistical relationship is driven by sewage within the boundaries of the property where the child resides, which is associated with a relative increase of 30 percent in the probability of the incidence of diarrhea. Our spatial analysis of sewage density shows that the probability of the incidence of diarrhea increases with the concentration of sewage in the immediate vicinity of the child’s residence, suggesting negative spillovers from neighbors with overflowed on-site sanitation facilities. The negative health externalities associated with faulty on-site sanitation infrastructure provide a persuasive argument in favor of government interventions that adequately remove and treat fecal sludge.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	Inter-American Development Bank
Other Authors:	Antonella Bancalari
Format:	Technical Notes biblioteca
Language:	English
Published:	Inter-American Development Bank
Subjects:	Water and Sanitation, Health Promotion, I15 - Health and Economic Development, Q53 - Air Pollution • Water Pollution • Noise • Hazardous Waste • Solid Waste • Recycling, Diarrhea, Externalities, On-site sanitation, Peri-urban, Sewage,
Online Access:	http://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0000851 https://publications.iadb.org/en/exposure-sewage-site-sanitation-and-child-health-spatial-analysis-linkages-and-externalities-peri
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