The effects of water supply and sanitation on childhood mortality in urbaneritrea

Child mortality differentials according to water supply and sanitation in m any urban areas of developing countries suggest that access to piped water and toilet facilities can improve the survival chances of children. The cen tral question in this study is whether access to piped water and a flush to ilet affects the survival chance of children under five in urban areas of E ritrea. The study uses data collected by the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) project in Eritrea in 1995. The results show that while the unadjuste d effect of household environment (water supply and toilet facility) is lar ge and statistically significant during the post-neonatal and child periods , it is relatively small and statistically insignificant during the neonata l period. The effect of household environment remains substantial during th e post-neonatal and child periods, even when other socioeconomic variables are held constant. However, the household environment effect totally disapp ears; during the neonatal period when the socioeconomic factors are control led for.