COVID-19 and informal settlements - implications for water, sanitation and health in India and Indonesia.
Priti Parikh, Yasmin Bou Karim, Jacob Paulose, Pam Factor-Litvak, Emily Nix, Dewi Nur Aisyah, Hemant Chaturvedi, Logan Manikam, Monica Lakhanpaul
Author Information
Priti Parikh: University College London, Engineering for International Development Centre, Civil, Environmental and Geomatic Engineering, 2 Taviton Street, London WC1H 0BT, UK. ORCID
Yasmin Bou Karim: Aceso Global Health Consultants Ltd, London, UK.
Jacob Paulose: University College London, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, London, UK.
Pam Factor-Litvak: Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA.
Emily Nix: University College London, Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, London, UK.
Dewi Nur Aisyah: Indonesia One Health University Network, Jakarta, Indonesia.
Hemant Chaturvedi: Aceso Global Health Consultants Ltd, London, UK.
Logan Manikam: Aceso Global Health Consultants Ltd, London, UK.
Monica Lakhanpaul: Population, Policy and Practice, University College London, Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, London, UK.
Informal settlements are home to over 1 billion people worldwide and are characterised by high population densities and poor environmental conditions. The authors identify the impact of COVID-19 on existing water and sanitation practices and potential pathways for the transmission of COVID-19 in informal settlements in India and Indonesia. In the short term, there is an urgent need for mobile and contactless hand washing, washing/bathing facilities and toilets. In the long term, COVID-19 provides an opportunity to invest in centralised water and sanitation networked solutions appropriate for high-density settings to integrate those settlements into cities and improve environmental conditions and health in these cities.
