Collaboration, cholera, and cyclones: a project to improve point-of-use water quality in Madagascar

In November 1999, CARE Madagascar, Population Services International (PSI), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) selected 30 poor communities in urban Antananarivo as the target population for launch of the Safe Water System. The system consists of behavior change techniques along with point-of-use treatment and safe storage of water. The project was launched in March 2000, ahead of schedule, because a cholera epidemic struck Madagascar in January. Because of the enormous demand created by the cholera epidemic and by 3 cyclones that followed in the next 3 months, the project grew to national scale in less than a year. The combination of community mobilization and social marketing resulted in increased demand for and use of the Safe Water System.