Shaikh Mehdi Hasan1, Susmita Das2, Syed Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi2, Sohana Shafique2, Sabrina Rasheed2, Daniel D Reidpath2. 1. International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Health System and Population Studies Division, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh. smehdi@icddrb.org. 2. International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, Health System and Population Studies Division, Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of research investigating the confluence of risk factors in urban slums that may make them accelerators for respiratory, droplet infections like COVID-19. Our working hypothesis was that, even within slums, an inverse relationship existed between living density and access to shared or private WASH facilities. METHODS: In an exploratory, secondary analysis of World Bank, cross-sectional microdata from slums in Bangladesh we investigated the relationship between intra-household population density (crowding) and access to private or shared water sources and toilet facilities. RESULTS: The analysis showed that most households were single-room dwellings (80.4%). Median crowding ranged from 0.55 m2 per person up to 67.7 m2 per person. The majority of the dwellings (83.3%), shared both toilet facilities and the source of water, and there was a significant positive relationship between crowding and the use of shared facilities. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the practical constraints on implementing, in slums, the conventional COVID19 management approaches of social distancing, regular hand washing, and not sharing spaces. It has implications for the management of future respiratory epidemics.
BACKGROUND: There is a lack of research investigating the confluence of risk factors in urban slums that may make them accelerators for respiratory, droplet infections like COVID-19. Our working hypothesis was that, even within slums, an inverse relationship existed between living density and access to shared or private WASH facilities. METHODS: In an exploratory, secondary analysis of World Bank, cross-sectional microdata from slums in Bangladesh we investigated the relationship between intra-household population density (crowding) and access to private or shared water sources and toilet facilities. RESULTS: The analysis showed that most households were single-room dwellings (80.4%). Median crowding ranged from 0.55 m2 per person up to 67.7 m2 per person. The majority of the dwellings (83.3%), shared both toilet facilities and the source of water, and there was a significant positive relationship between crowding and the use of shared facilities. CONCLUSION: The findings highlight the practical constraints on implementing, in slums, the conventional COVID19 management approaches of social distancing, regular hand washing, and not sharing spaces. It has implications for the management of future respiratory epidemics.
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