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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0PLOS Water

Pragmatic water and health research in a complex emergency: Learnings and way forward

  • Karin Gallandat1
  • Jaime Mufitini Saidi2
  • Baron Bashige Rumedeka3
  • Damien Machuel4
  • Audrey Seon5
  • Espoir Bwenge Malembaka6
  • Patrick Musole Bugeme7
  • Esther German8
  • Didier Bompangue9
  • Chloe Hutchins
  • Jackie Knee
  • Andrew Azman
1 more authors
  • Oliver Cumming
9 affiliations
  1. 1Department Sanitation, Water and Solid Waste for Development, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Duebendorf, Switzerland
  2. 2Division Provinciale de la Santé du Sud-Kivu, Ministère de la Santé Publique, Zone de Santé d’Uvira, Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo
  3. 3Uvira office, Oxfam International, Uvira, Democratic Republic of the Congo
  4. 4Veolia Foundation, Paris, France
  5. 5French Agency for Development, Paris, France
  6. 6Faculty of Medicine, Geneva Centre for Humanitarian Studies, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  7. 7Institute of Global Health, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
  8. 8Department of Disease Control, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom
  9. 9One Health pour l’Afrique (INOHA), Université de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo
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Abstract

Climate change is straining water and sanitation services (WSS), leading to disruptions that threaten public health. In low-income and fragile contexts, there is an urgent need to increase investments in WSS, as well as to enhance efficiency in the utilisation of available financial resources. Operational research can help optimise future investments in WSS. In this perspective, we share our experience carrying out research embedded within a large-scale water supply infrastructure improvement programme in an urban, cholera-endemic area in South Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Through the lens of this concrete example, we highlight the need for rigorous research on higher quality drinking water services in low-income and fragile countries, discuss how multi-stakeholder research partnerships and pragmatic methods can contribute to the generation of rigorous evidence where it is most needed, and illustrate the role of research in strengthening capacities for both science and practice.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{gallandat2026pragmatic,
  title = {{Pragmatic water and health research in a complex emergency: Learnings and way forward}},
  author = {Karin Gallandat and Jaime Mufitini Saidi and Baron Bashige Rumedeka and Damien Machuel and Audrey Seon and Espoir Bwenge Malembaka and Patrick Musole Bugeme and Esther German and Didier Bompangue and Chloe Hutchins and Jackie Knee and Andrew Azman and Oliver Cumming},
  journal = {PLOS Water},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1371/journal.pwat.0000646},
  url = {https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000646},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Pragmatic water and health research in a complex emergency: Learnings and way forward
AU  - Karin Gallandat
AU  - Jaime Mufitini Saidi
AU  - Baron Bashige Rumedeka
AU  - Damien Machuel
AU  - Audrey Seon
AU  - Espoir Bwenge Malembaka
AU  - Patrick Musole Bugeme
AU  - Esther German
AU  - Didier Bompangue
AU  - Chloe Hutchins
AU  - Jackie Knee
AU  - Andrew Azman
AU  - Oliver Cumming
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
JO  - PLOS Water
DO  - 10.1371/journal.pwat.0000646
UR  - https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000646
AB  - Climate change is straining water and sanitation services (WSS), leading to disruptions that threaten public health. In low-income and fragile contexts, there is an urgent need to increase investments in WSS, as well as to enhance efficiency in the utilisation of available financial resources. Operational research can help optimise future investments in WSS. In this perspective, we share our experience carrying out research embedded within a large-scale water supply infrastructure improvement programme in an urban, cholera-endemic area in South Kivu (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Through the lens of this concrete example, we highlight the need for rigorous research on higher quality drinking water services in low-income and fragile countries, discuss how multi-stakeholder research partnerships and pragmatic methods can contribute to the generation of rigorous evidence where it is most needed, and illustrate the role of research in strengthening capacities for both science and practice.
SN  - 2767-3219
ER  -