Africa Water, Sanitation & Hygiene Africa water, Sanitation Mar- Apr 2015 Vol.10 No.2 | Page 37

Publications
on original analysis of 235 Demographic and Health
Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, spanning
64 developing countries over the period 1990-2011.
Five health status indicators and seven intervention
indicators are tracked for all the health Millennium
Development Goals. In most countries, the poorest 40
percent have made faster progress than the richest 60
percent. On average, relative inequality in the Millennium
Development Goal indicators has been falling. However,
the opposite is true in a sizable minority of countries,
especially on child health status indicators (40-50 percent
in the cases of child malnutrition and mortality), and on
some intervention indicators (almost 40 percent in the
case of immunizations). Absolute inequality has been
rising in a larger fraction of countries and in around onequarter of countries, the poorest 40 percent have been
slipping backward in absolute terms. Despite reductions
in most countries, relative inequalities in the Millennium
Development Goal health indicators are still appreciable,
with the poor facing higher risks of malnutrition and
death in childhood and lower odds of receiving key
health interventions.
Citation
“Wagstaff, Adam; Bredenkamp, Caryn; Buisman, Leander
R.. 2014. Progress Toward the Health MDGs : Are the
Poor Being Left Behind?. World Bank, Washington, DC.
© World Bank. https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/
handle/10986/18792 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
Getting the basic rights – the role of water,
sanitation and hygiene in maternal and
reproductive health: a conceptual framework
Tropical Medicine & International
Health
Volume 20, Issue 3, pages 252–
267, March 2015
Authors: Oona M. R.
Campbell1,*, Lenka Benova1,
Giorgia Gon1, Kaosar Afsana2
and Oliver Cumming3
Article first published online: 22
DEC 2014
DOI: 10.1111/tmi.12439
WASH affects the risk of adverse maternal and perinatal
health outcomes; these exposures are multiple and
overlapping and may be distant from the immediate
health outcome. Much of the evidence is weak, based
on observational studies and anecdotal evidence, with
relatively few systematic reviews. New systematic reviews
are required to assess the quality of existing evidence
more rigorously, and primary research is required to
investigate the magnitude of effects of particular WASH

exposures on specific maternal and perinatal outcomes.
Whilst major gaps exist, the evidence strongly suggests
that poor WASH influences maternal and reproductive
health outcomes to the extent that it should be considered
in global and national strategies.
Wastewater Management- A UN-Water Analytical
Brief
As the timeframe for the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) nears
completion, minds are turning
to the Post-2015 Development
Agenda. This is accompanied
by the realization that the focus
on drinking-water and sanitation
without due attention being paid
to the end products of water and
sanitation provision (i.e. wastewater)
may have exacerbated some of the water quality problems
seen globally.
It is increasingly being recognized that the issues of
wastewater management and water quality have crosslinkages with a range of other water- and non-water issues,
not least in respect of the water, energy and food nexus. It
has also been acknowledged that wastewater management
clearly plays a role in achieving future water security in a
world where water stress will increase (OECD, 2012).
Against this backdrop, there is an emerging consensus
on the need for a dedicated water goal in the Post-2015
Development Agenda, one which includes explicit
recognition of the importance of good wastewater
management and its contribution to protecting water
quality.
World Malaria Report 2014
Publishers: WHO
ISBN 978 92 4 1564830
142 Pages
The World Malaria Report 2014
summarizes information received
from malaria-endemic countries
and other sources, and updates
the analyses presented in the 2013
report.
It assesses global and regional
malaria trends, highlights progress
towards global targets, and describes opportunities and
challenges in controlling and eliminating the disease. The
report was