Improving Diarrhea Prevention and Management Practices among a Settled Population and a Recently Resettled Displaced Population in Cuanza Sul, Angola:

A Report of Research Conducted by Save the Children and
The Johns Hopkins University with Proposed Interventions

SEPTEMBER 1998

Dr. Hirondina Cucibuca¹, Carlos F. S. António¹, Domingos Cussinduca^1,
Wiliam Weiss², Paul Bolton²

¹Save the Children Federation, USA. Angola Field Office
² Center for Refugee and Disaster Response

UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
SAVE THE CHILDREN FEDERATION, USA
THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF HYGIENE & PUBLIC HEALTH
LINKING COMPLEX EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND TRANSITION INITIATIVE

This report describes the method and results of a study carried out from July to August 1998.  The study investigated possible health status differences among two populations living in Cuanza Sul, Angola, using qualitative techniques: (1) a population of persons who had recently resettled on traditional lands after several years of displacement during the civil war in Angola; and (2) a population of persons who had left their traditional lands during the civil war for only short periods, and who have been settled for more than three years.

The primary purpose of the investigation was a better understanding of childhood diarrhea prevention and management practices.  This knowledge is to be used by Save the Children for planning a health intervention to reduce diarrheal deaths, a leading cause of mortality among the children in Cuanza Sul. [Note: following the research, at the time of writing the report, hostilities resumed between the government and UNITA forces and Angola and the ability of SC to implement of health program remained uncertain].  A secondary goal was to investigate, in less depth, how other child health problems are perceived and treated.  Our purpose here was to provide some background knowledge for future interventions addressing these issues.  For all data collected, comparisons were made between the two populations to better understand the effects of displacement, and whether these effects translate into a need for different types of interventions.   

This research was funded in part by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under Cooperative Agreement HRN-A-00-96-9006 with The Johns Hopkins University (JHU) for the Linking Complex Emergency Response and Transition Initiative (CERTI).  These funds supported research and consultancy costs.  Save the Children USA provided staff and logistical support.   The Cuanza Sul Provincial Ministry of Health provided staff support.

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• Cover
• Introduction
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions
• Appendices