text: na, Cape Verde, Egypt, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone and Sudan. Bangladesh conducted three studies of the health benefits of integrated water, sanita- tion and hygiene education within the same community in 1989, and found that the incidence of diarrhocal dis- eases fell by 25 per cent. A similar study in Lesotho in 1988 recorded a 24 per cent reduction. Cape Verde has also reported a very noticeable decline in the number of diarrhocal bouts in communities with water supply and sanitary latrines. Cost-effectiveness: There are signs of a growing consciousness of costs in WATS AN programmes in a number of countries. Nigeria has reduced capital invest- ment costs through the use of appro- priate drilling equipment and meth- ods, and Sudan has linked incentives to well-drilling productivity. The Ni- gerian approach has reduced the cost of a handpump-equipped borehole from US$20,000 to less than US$4,000, and Sudan has cut its costs from more than US$9,000 to less than USS3,OOQ. It is significant that while the Nigerian result took eight years to accomplish, the Sudanese approach achieved its gains in just three years. If both approaches were executed simultaneously in the same project, the impact on cost-efficiency would be even more dramatic, and more easily sustained. Burundi, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger and Uganda have also demonstrated a keen awareness of costs in their programmes. Sanitation; The low point of the Decade has been very poor coverage rates for sanitation services, even in countries where performance in the water supply sector was sound. In India, where rural water supply cov- erage is almost 100 per cent, only about three per cent of rural inhabi- tants have access to sanitation facili- ties. Similarly, in Bangladesh, where UNICEF has its second largest WATSAN programme, rural sanitation coverage
analysis: The text appears to be focused on the implementation of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WATSAN) programs in various countries, with a emphasis on their impact on public health and cost-effectiveness. The text mentions specific studies and initiatives in countries such as Bangladesh, Lesotho, Cape Verde, Nigeria, Sudan, and others, highlighting the importance of WATSAN programs in reducing the incidence of diarrheal diseases and improving overall health outcomes.