Implications of WASH Benefits trials for water and sanitation

Results of the WASH Benefits trials in Bangladesh and Kenya have been reported by Stephen Luby and colleagues1 and by Clair Null and colleagues,2 respectively. One group in each study assessed the effect on child height-for-age of “household sanitation upgrades from unimproved to improved latrines” in the child's compound. In both studies, adult latrine use was high at baseline: only about 5% of adults in each setting initially defecated in the open. The trials found that child height was not increased by upgrading sanitation facilities.