Dire drinking water & hygiene situation calls for urgent action in Albania

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Eighty nurses from three communes in Dibra, Albania, gained vital information about drinking water, hygiene and sanitation during a training course recently held in response to a World Vision assessment that revealed the dire situation for rural communities on these issues. Conducted in World Vision's Dibra Area Development Programme (ADP), five hours northeast of the Albanian capital, Tirana, the two-day training course was organised by World Vision in collaboration with Partnership International for Medical Education (PRIME). The nurses learnt that a recent World Vision assessment of water issues, hygiene and sanitation in three of the communes in the Dibra ADP, showed a great need for improvement. Only 23% of households surveyed have water inside the house and many have poor sanitation and a very poor garbage removal system in their communities. The same problem is evident in many health centres and schools. 'One of our greatest challenges is that many health centres do not have access to water and for many others the water is not clean,' said one of the nurses during the training. 'Raising the capacity of nurses and empowering them to share the information with the community in which they work is a very strategic approach to impact people's lives because they are the first contact for the community in the case of health problems,' said Melsi Seferi, World Vision Health Coordinator. The same assessment shows that the health centres in Dibra villages are very small and often lack the materials needed to give basic support to the families in the villages. Some paediatric advisory services are situated in private houses. Schools also have critical hygienic conditions where the bathrooms don't have a proper wastewater sewer. Roads are also affected because wastewater passes through them, rendering them unsafe and unhygienic for children who walk and play on these roads. 'It's our responsibility to raise the voice to the responsible institutions and to be intentional when we report infectious diseases, so they will see the real situation and do something about that,' says Violeta Alku, one of the nurses who participated in the training. Nurses also gained practical knowledge about how they can improve the water, sanitation and hygiene by their daily work in the health centres and their communities, and how to mobilise the communities and local governments to solve these issues. 'This is the first training of this kind for us. We learned a lot of things that will help in our everyday job with the community,' said Luljeta Hasi, one of the nurses of Kastriot Commune. 'Now it is our responsibility to share this information with them.' 'The training with the nurses is only the first step towards the main goal of this Area Development Programme, which is that the children of Dibra will grow up in a peaceful, friendly and healthy environment,' said Malvina Martini, Dibra ADP Sectors Team Leader. 'We are planning other awareness-raising activities and training with children, parents, teachers, doctors and other members of the community, so they themselves will become the main agents of change for the problems that they have,' concluded Mrs. Martini. At the same time World Vision through its Dibra ADP has been sharing the findings of this assessment with different partners in the field and responsible institutions about these issues, which affect the community and especially children. By sharing these great needs, World Vision is also advocating and raising awareness for further interventions to improve the situation related to water, hygiene and other health-related issues. -Ends-