Effects of Drinking Water and Sanitation on Under-five Mortality in Nepal

The availability of safe drinking water and access to basic sanitation play positive role on child heath whereas deterioration in their quality invite the higher risk of mortality.

This paper looks into the effect of drinking water and sanitation used in the household on under-five child mortality in Nepal. The study also assesses whether mortality is affected by urban-rural and eco-belt characteristics. The analysis is based on the data obtained in Population Census conducted in 2011. The binary logistic regression of under-five mortality on sources of drinking water and type of toilet used in the household is fitted to assess the impacts of drinking water and sanitation on under-five mortality.

The preliminary results show that access to safe drinking water contributes to decreases the risk both in national and sub-national levels. Moreover, sanitation is found to have a more noticeable impact on child-mortality than drinking water. The results also disclose the facts that the risk is higher in rural areas than in urban areas. The Mountain and Terai regions face higher risk of under-five mortality than in Hill area. The results suggest that increasing awareness among population relative to health care is equally important to decrease under-five child mortality risk in Nepal.