Ernacio, S. M. G. (2017). Improving hygiene practices and household access to safe water in Katarcan Island, Santa Fe, Cebu (Unpublished master's thesis). Graduate School of Public and Development Management, Development Academy of the Philippines.

Graduate School of Public and Development Management. Health Systems and Development. Batch 7 Thesis (MPM-HSD)--Development Academy of the Philippines.

In UN Factsheet 2013, they stated that worldwide, the mortality rate of children under five dropped by 47% from 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 48 in 2012. Identified as one of the main killers of under 5 mortalities was diarrhea Despite the many program addressing sanitation like sanitary toilet provision, ZOD program and Barangay WASH Committee, Open Defecation is still practiced and Handwashing with soapwtill not commonly practiced in the household. Access to water dictates hygiene practices and even toilet used. The study aims to help improve hygiene and household access to safe water to address gaps in prevention of diarrhea in Kinatarkan Island, Santa Fe, Cebu. Specifically, it answered the following question (1) What are then existing status of the intervention for diarrhea. (2) What are the gaps or barrier on the identified intervention for diarrhea, (3) What strategies or recommendation could sustain the intervention of diarrhea. A scarcity of water source in the island was noticeable by the study. where surface water is barely noticeable after raining. Most groundwater sources are are either brackish or in critical level. Bottle water is expensive and only available to high-earning households. Rainwater collection in household level are not safe fro drinking and potential health risk, and most household prefer to drink from the rainwater. No communal rainwater collection despite the fact the most common or government owned facilities have wide roof compared to individual households. Piped water coming from municipal owned KIRWASA was a little salty. Cost was a major, for connection of level 3 water source in the house, fro bottle drinking, for household chemical treatment, and for provision of WASH kit. Open Defection was noted to be rampant in the island despite toilet provision and community-led total sanitation program. Poor access to water and poor hygiene practice were noted to be the common cause. The program started by Oxfam after typhoon Haiyan was effective but after they left, the program was not turned-over and it died out of the process. To all program in hygiene involves access to water. Safe water for drinking, hand washing, bathing, food preparation, and even sanitation. Even with a good access to water, behavior change should also be implemented in the community to increase their demand to use water. To understand the importance of hygiene, should be coupled with available safe water.