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. 2025 Jul 11:15:04197.
doi: 10.7189/jogh.15.04197.

Limited access to clean water and sanitation in Mopeia, Mozambique: a description in the context of a cholera outbreak

Ekhiñe Oroz Torrea  1   2 , Saimado Imputiua  3 , Nika Gorski  4 , Eldo Elobolobo  3   5   6 , Joanna Furnival-Adams  4   7 , Edgar Jamisse  3 , Patricia Nicolas  3   4   7 , Julia Montaña  3   4   7 , Vegovito Vegove  3   6 , Humberto Munguambe  3 , Paula Ruiz-Castillo  4 , Hansel Mundaca  3   4   8 , Matthew Rudd  9 , Regina Rabinovich  4   8 , Francisco Saute  3 , Charfudin Sacoor  3 , Carlos Chaccour  4   10   11
Affiliations

Limited access to clean water and sanitation in Mopeia, Mozambique: a description in the context of a cholera outbreak

Ekhiñe Oroz Torrea et al. J Glob Health. .

Abstract

Background: Inadequate access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) accounts for a high burden of morbidity and mortality in impoverished regions. This is significantly due to infectious diseases and the direct impact on social and economic well-being. The high burden of communicable diseases and malnutrition in Mozambique, as well as high vulnerability to climate change, results in increased risk of WASH-related diseases. Our objective was to describe access to safe water and sanitation practices in Mopeia, a remote rural district in Mozambique.

Methods: The source of data for this analysis is a cross-sectional, demographic survey carried out in Mopeia in 2021 under the Broad One Health Endectocide-based Malaria Intervention in Africa project, a cluster-randomised trial to assess the impact of ivermectin on malaria transmission. The survey was conducted in all households of a sub-population created for the trial, and it included questions about WASH-related practices at the household level.

Results: The results showed that 4200 (56.29%) households have an improved water source at walking distance, which is drastically different to sanitation practices, where 6608 (88.56%) households do not have access to at least one basic sanitation service. Data on water access for Mopeia was similar to that reported in rural contexts in sub-Saharan Africa, yet the district remains off-track from achieving universal safe water coverage in the next few years. Regarding sanitation, the use of unsafe sanitation services is more widespread than in the average rural sub-Saharan Africa (75.00%), with twice as many households (n = 3897, 56.08%) practising open land defecation.

Conclusions: Mopeia is still far from achieving universal safe water and sanitation coverage by 2030, especially in sanitation, and remains prone to outbreaks and has a high burden of WASH-related diseases.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure of interest: The authors completed the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest Form (available upon request from the corresponding author) and disclose no relevant interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Maps of Mozambique and Mopeia.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Suspected cholera cases by week.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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