Professor Barbara Evans opens this year’s ISNTD Water conference

Professor Barbara Evans will open the ISNTD Water conference 2017, hosted by The International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases.

Neglected tropical diseases affect over 1.4 billion individuals worldwide, most of which are amongst the poorest and most vulnerable and live in areas with inadequate water and sanitation.

ISNTD Water provides the multidisciplinary platform and network for the research, charity and business sectors to partner and collaborate to address diseases and conditions of poverty worldwide. 

Professor Evans’ opening presentation, entitled ‘Mitigating risks and impacts – the role of sanitation infrastructure and services in the management of disease’, draws upon her research into sanitation, hygiene and water services in the global south. Her research has a particular focus on urban sanitation in cities and towns.

Within these areas, particular emphasis is placed on the development of effective strategies for management and disposal of faecal sludge. Professor Evans has been instrumental in the development of the Shit Flow Diagram (SFD) an innovative solution to show how faecal matter is managed in towns and cities across the globe.

Worldwide, around 2 billion people don’t have access to a toilet. A further 2 billion people only have access to an inadequate toilet. With over half the world’s population living in urban areas, her work on the SFD Promotion Initiative is vitally important for the provision of safe and effective sanitation.

Professor Evans says: “An SFD presents a clear picture of how wastewater and faecal sludge management services are delivered in a city and the resulting challenges; these can then be linked to aspects of service delivery where improvements are needed.

“Primarily it provides technical and non-technical stakeholders with an easy-understood advocacy tool that can be used to support decision-making on urban sanitation planning and programming.”

...it provides technical and non-technical stakeholders with an easy-understood advocacy tool that can be used to support decision-making on urban sanitation planning and programming. 

The Conference will take place on 23 November at the Natural History Museum, London.

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