Dear Daniel, dear Chaiwe,

Thanks for your announcement and for your thoughts. The presentations of the SuSanA Meeting's session on Sanitation and Health will come with the documentation of the SuSanA Meeting shared by the Secretariat.

Dear all,

It is as honor to hereby publish the final version 1.0 of the Discussion Paper on WASH & Health "Prevention is the Best Medicine - WASH in Times of COVID-19". Is was developed as a collaborative effort with SuSanA partners, members and SuSanA friends. Please be asured that it is a starting pointfor further discussion and hopefully a version 2.0 will follow. There is also the idea of starting a case study collection of WASH and Health projects of partners as well as an in-depth exchange on interlinkages and potentials in different WASH and Health approaches.

Happy reading and best regards,
Jona

Dear Jona and Daniel,

Unfortunately, I missed the SuSanA meeting session were this paper was being discussed. It would be great to hear some details of the interactive discussion here.

The current COVID-19 situation definitely puts health systems on the test and reveals inequalities in countries and societies around the world as importantly stressed by the paper. 

Action in the WASH sector is therefore important for both containing the virus and lowering its immediate impact and aftermath. Some of the priority areas identified as part of the emergency response could include providing support to water supply and sanitation (WSS) service providers to prepare emergency plans and ensure continuity of service delivery during such critical times, this especially true for developing countries where service issues still exist. This, of course, is in addition to the much needed combined response effort across the sector, that should continually be facilitated.

Regards,
Chaiwe

On Friday, 21st August as part of the SuSanA online meeting , Sarah Dickin (WG 13) will lead an event on “Sanitation from a One Health perspective” , you are kindly invited to participate in this event.  You find attached a discussion paper on "WASH & Health; Prevention is Best Medicine - WASH in Times of COVID-19"

Dear Members of SuSanA WG5,

I am writing to alert you to a discussion paper (see attached) that has been developed by the German Toilet Organization (GTO) and other colleagues in the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), on health and pandemic prevention titled "SuSanA Discussion Paper - WASH and Health (in times of the COVID-19 pandemic) | A Contribution to Pandemic Prevention". The paper intends to answer the following guiding questions:

1. How can WASH contribute to pandemic prevention?
2. How can SuSanA best act to facilitate this?
3. What must WASH actors know about the health sector to link efficiently and effectively?

We are interested in knowing if you have suggestions or comments on the paper and in particular, if you see some potential areas that our Working Group 5 (productive sanitation and food security) could contribute to towards strengthening the WASH-Health linkages. Please feel free to post your comments into this thread.

In addition, I would like to extend an invitation to a special session that will be held on this Friday 21st August as part of the SuSanA online meeting, on the topic "Sanitation from a One Health perspective". The above mentioned paper will be presented and discussed and you are welcome to participate and give input or suggestions. You can register and find the link to the meeting here: www.susana.org/en/news-and-events/sanita...-30th-susana-meeting

I look forward to your comments and suggestions.

Thanks and kind regards,
Daniel Ddiba 

Dear SuSanA Community,

We are very happy to hereby present the draft version of the dicussion paper on WASH & Health "Prevention is the Best Medicine  - WASH in Times of COVID-19". ( Link )

Before finalising Version 1.0, we would much appreciate your feedback and comments by 10th August 2020 here below.

• Do you find this discussion paper useful?
• What do you think about the suggested entry points and actions for the working groups and do you see additional potential?
• Are important aspects at the WASH-Health interface missing?

Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) is an essential component to “ensure that all human beings can fulfil their potential in dignity and equality and in a healthy environment” (Agenda 2030, preamble). The intrinsic link between health and WASH becomes evident in many facets: The combat against many Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) requires WASH in the prevention and even curation. Controlling zoonoses assigns WASH a central role in the comprehensive “One Health” approach. And today more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic illustrates the importance of hygiene to prevent infections disease outbreaks.

The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), an international network of partner organisations and individual members, plays an important role at the WASH and health linkage. Direct and indirect connections are anchored in most of SuSanA’s 13 working groups. While none of them focuses on health only, all of them contribute to services, processes or approaches that are fundamental to achieve sustainable WASH and health impact. This discussion paper visualizes current opportunities and activities from the SuSanA community and highlights synergies between SuSanA working groups and several key issues of the health sector. Furthermore, it is a starting point for dialogue and collaboration with / for implementing organisations of the health sector. In this regard, the discussion paper intends to address the following topics:

I. No Health without WASH. Water, sanitation and hygiene are the foundation for healthy humans, animals and a healthy environment. Section 1 describes the interlinkages between WASH and health through the lens of the problems and through the lens of the solutions, discovering entry points for both sectors to collaborate more closely in order to achieve sustainable health.

II. SuSanA as Network for Sustainable Solutions. SuSanA will continue to be a cornerstone in shaping the agenda and promoting a healthy world based on sustainable sanitation systems and hygiene management. Section 2 discusses how SuSanA can best act to facilitate this process.

III. Annex: Glossary of Key Health Terms and Actors. Section 3 provides an overview about terms and actors helping WASH actors to understand colleagues from the health sector.

The final product (Version 1.0) will be presented during the upcoming SuSanA Meeting.
Much looking forward to your thoughts and comments.

Best,
Jona