Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) practices among people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) – need to relook, in the era of COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundWater, sanitation, and hygiene (WaSH) practices always have been neglected among HIV/AIDS (Human immunodeficiency virus/ Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) programs, even when HIV and WaSH services have robust bearing on each other. With COVID-19 pandemic on the go, it is utmost necessary for the people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) to ensure adequate WaSH practices. ObjectiveThis study was carried out with an objective to assess baseline WaSH practices among PLHA and to find out if any association between nutritional status and WaSH parameters so as to identify the shortcomings and highlight the importance of WaSH practices among PLHAs and give suitable recommendations to program managers. MethodologyA cross-sectional study was carried out among PLHA registered in ART centres of western Maharashtra. A sample size of 378 consented to be part of the study were included in the study, by means of systematic random sampling. Data were collected by means of pretested questionnaire prepared from guidelines and previous studies. Institutional ethical clearance was obtained and informed consent was taken from study participants before data collection. Strict confidentiality was maintained throughout the study period. ResultsWhen asked about the water processing method, 76% of them told they do not treat/process the water supplied to them. In contrast, only a few PLHA told they would filter (17%), boil (7%), and use aquaguard (1%). The majority (67%) had their latrines, and while 29% of them were using public latrines and its hygienic sanitation was a concern for them and 4% were still practising open-air defecation in rural areas. Almost all study participants were handwashing after toilet use and handwashing before consuming food. The majority (79%) told they used soap and water, while 20% were using only water, soil and water (1%) and ash and water (1%) which was a concern. Of all the households, 87% cooked their food twice and consumed it thrice a day, while 4% prepared thrice. 10% of them cooked only once and consumed thrice a day; 56% practised consumption of leftover food of the previous night which was a concern. A majority (54%) did not consume street food while remaining said that they used to consume street food. But majority (59%) said they did not follow the habit of checking hygiene or sanitation of hotel where they used to consume food while the remaining 41% did not check the hotel before ordering the food; 50% of them bought packaged milk