Report following the National Workshop on Economic Evaluation of Water and Sanitation Interventions (APW Report), Beijing 9-11 May 2006: Joint report by G. Hutton and L. Haller
Summary
The Chinese government is signatory to the Millenium Development goals, which include (among others) targets on reducing poverty in the country and on improving water, sanitation, child health, infectious diseases, gender quality and environmental quality.In this context, the World Health Organization is supporting the Government of China to gather evidence to support the rational allocation of public and private resources to different water and sanitation improvement options. It is expected, based on previously published studies, that research study results will demonstrate that water supply and sanitation improvements are a worthwhile investment -- both in terms of health gains per Yuan spent, but also in terms of economic return on each Yuan spent. In order to initiate this process, the World Health Organization has organized together with the Ministry of Health, a training workshop on economic evaluation of water and sanitation interventions. This workshop has brought together national experts with a range of skills covering epidemiology, engineering, economics and sociology to learn the methods on how to conduct economic evaluation according to international standards.The terms of reference of this report were:(1) to develop English-language presentation material and workbook, on the methodology for estimating burden of disease due to unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene; and (2) to conduct training on burden of disease methodology for 6-8 researchers of the Rural Water Supply Technical Guidance Institute, and advise on the design of a study in China.