Browsing by Autor "Adriana Espinoza Soto"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Barriers to women's participation, leadership, and empowerment in community-managed water and sanitation in rural Bolivia
(IWA Publishing, 2022) Leigh C. Hamlet; V. B. Gutierrez; Adriana Espinoza Soto; Sarah Dickin
Abstract Enabling women to be meaningful participants and leaders in rural community-based water and sanitation governance remains a challenge. While the benefits of and barriers to women's participation and leadership have been reported on, there is limited understanding of the role of empowerment in addressing these challenges. To help bridge this knowledge gap, we used a household survey to measure men and women's empowerment in water and sanitation in the rural Tupiza watershed, Bolivia, and key informant interviews with women leaders to identify barriers to leadership. Overall, among survey respondents, fewer men than women were disempowered. Community-level factors, especially those related to comfort in speaking in community meetings and reporting service problems, contributed more to women's disempowerment, as did household-level factors related to work balance and input into decisions about who participates in community water and sanitation activities. Among interviewed community water leaders, many women felt their positions were costly to their households and reported challenges in obtaining technical training and local government assistance, which not only disempowered them as leaders but also was likely tied to poor service delivery and related health outcomes in their communities. We discuss the implications of our findings for rural Bolivia and future research opportunities.
Prevalence of enteric pathogens in mothers and children from communities in the La Paz River Basin Bolivia; associations with water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions
(UWA Publishing, 2026) Cinthia Copeticona-Callejas; Sònia Jiménez; Alejandra Torrez-Mamani; Belén Choque-Pardo; Jorge Agramont; Josué Mamani-Jarro; Lucia Inchauste; Stéphane Priet; Adriana Espinoza Soto; Carla Liera
Enteric infections remain a major public health challenge in low- and middle-income countries, disproportionately affecting young children. We conducted a cross-sectional study to characterize the prevalence of enteropathogens among mothers and children from peri-urban and rural communities in the La Paz River Basin Bolivia, and to examine associations with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions. Fecal samples were analyzed by real-time PCR to detect 21 viral, bacterial, and parasitic pathogens, alongside household surveys and water quality assessments. Sixteen pathogens were detected, 85% of participants carried at least one pathogen, with frequent coinfections. The most prevalent pathogens were Helicobacter pylori, adenovirus, EPEC, Giardia lamblia, and Shigella. Pathogen carriage was higher in rural than in peri-urban settings, with bacterial infections predominating in the lower basin and viral infections in the upper basin. Children carried more viral and parasitic pathogens, while mothers had more bacterial pathogens. Significant mother-child concordance was observed for several pathogens, supporting shared household exposures. Enteric pathogen carriage was strongly associated with drinking water source, sanitation practices, housing quality, and hygiene behaviors, particularly reliance on cistern/spring water, open defecation, and inadequate hand hygiene. These findings highlight a substantial and heterogeneous burden of enteric infections, underscoring the need for integrated WASH interventions.