Nearly 1.4 million poor people living in Viet Nam's rural areas will be given access to running water and financial support to help them install water-tanks, heard a conference in Ha Noi on Tuesday. The Community Hygiene Output-based Aid Program in its second phase (2012-2015) was held by the East Meets West Foundation Global Partnership and the Vietnam Women's Union. The program aims to increase the rate of access to hygiene and promote changes in hygienic behavior in poor communities in rural areas in Viet Nam and Cambodia, focusing on 20 per cent of the poorest households. In the second phase, the southern provinces of Dong Thap, Tra Vinh and Tien Giang; the central provinces of Thanh Hoa and Ha Tinh; and the northern provinces of Hai Duong and Ninh Binh will all participate in the program. Poor households in 244 communes in the localities will receive financial support from VND1.4-VND10 million ($67-$480) to improve toilets and water storage facilities. By June 2015, 126,000 women will have received aid to help them install toilets and septic tanks, and about 2,600 volunteers will be trained periodically on community hygiene. The first phase from 2010-11 was implemented successfully in the Mekong Delta, helping 4,200 poor and nearly poor families in the southern provinces of Tien Giang, Long An and Dong Thap to build toilets and install hand washing facilities with running water. According to the World Health Organization, about 50 million Vietnamese people do not have hygienic toilet facilities or septic tanks. Furthermore, poor hygiene kills 20,000 people in Vietnam each year. (Vietnam News Jul 13)
