Fighting water disease

Professor Huw Taylor, who led the international team that produced World Health Organization guidelines on fighting the spread of Ebola through better emergency sanitation, will speak on the university’s international contributions in the fields of water, sanitation and hygiene research and practice.

Professor Taylor, who speaks Portuguese, will be addressing the international workshop on the Brazilian Semiarid Zone, in Campina Grande, Northeast Brazil, on Wednesday, 25 November.

Professor Taylor, the university’s Professor of Microbial Ecology, will discuss how the university’s Aquatic Research Centre is contributing to the provision of safer drinking water for impoverished communities in the Brazilian Sertão – a region that is traditionally semi-arid but which has suffered a catastrophic drought in recent years.

PhD student Mario Peres is investigating how new approaches to risk management, based on a better understanding of waterborne disease transmission mechanisms, can support a strategic Water Safety Plan for the region that will predict where and when action should be taken to prevent waterborne disease.

The main theme of the workshop focuses on promoting a forum to discuss possible solutions to the problem of capture, storage and distribution of water, and also seeking alternatives that minimise the problem of droughts and social and environmental consequences.

The event is organised by the Multidisciplinary Center for Studies and Research, Federal University of Campina Grande and Academic Unit of Atmospheric Sciences (UACA / UFCG).