Is water carriage associated with the water carrier’s health? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence

Geere, Jo-Anne Lee ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9071-2778, Cortobius, Moa, Geere, Jonathan Harold, Hammer, Charlotte Christiane and Hunter, Paul R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5608-6144 (2018) Is water carriage associated with the water carrier’s health? A systematic review of quantitative and qualitative evidence. BMJ Global Health, 3.

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Abstract

Introduction: The work of carrying water falls mainly on women and children, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and rural areas. While concerns have been raised, how water carriage is associated with health of the water carrier is not clear. The aim of this review is to summarise evidence on whether, and how, water carriage is associated with the water carrier’s health. Methods: A systematic review of literature was conducted, searching Embase; Medline; Web of Science Social Sciences Citation Index; Web of Science Arts and Humanities Citation Index; International Initiative for Impact Evaluation website; WHO Virtual Health Sciences Library and WHO African index medicus, from inception to 8 November 2017. Results: Forty-two studies were included. Their ability to demonstrate cause and effect relationships was limited by study design and fair or poor methodological quality. Overall, the studies suggest that water carriage is associated with negative aspects of the water carriers’ health. There is moderate quantitative and strong qualitative evidence that water carriage is associated with pain, fatigue, perinatal health problems and violence against vulnerable people, and inconclusive evidence of an association with stress or self-reported mental health and general health status. Conclusion: In many circumstances, water carriage is a potential barrier to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 target ‘universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all’ and SDG 3 ‘ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages’. Efforts should focus on providing water on premises, and where this is not possible, providing water close to home and reducing risk of gender-based violence.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 3 - good health and well-being,sdg 5 - gender equality,sdg 6 - clean water and sanitation,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/good_health_and_well_being
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Centres > Water Security Research Centre Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Rehabilitation Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Epidemiology and Public Health Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Groups > Public Health and Health Services Research (former - to 2023) University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Research Centres > Population Health
Related URLs:	http://europepmc.org/abstract/med/299890... https://gh.bmj.com/content/3/3/e000764
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	04 Sep 2018 10:32
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2023 02:16
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/68191
DOI:	10.1136/bmjgh-2018-000764

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