02172nas a2200301   4500000000100000008004100001260003700042653002400079653005700103100001500160700001200175700001200187700001200199700001200211700001400223700001500237700001300252700001800265700001500283700001700298700001400315245012900329856009900458300001300557490000700570520127900577022001401856       2021                            d  bPublic Library of Science (PLoS)10aInfectious Diseases10aPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health1 aSanders AM1 aDixon R1 aStuck L1 aKelly M1 aWoods G1 aMuheki EM1 aBaayenda G1 aMasika M1 aKafanikhale H1 aMwingira U1 aWohlgemuth L1 aNgondi JM00aEvaluation of facial cleanliness and environmental improvement activities: Lessons learned from Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda  uhttps://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0009962&type=printable  ae00099620 v153 a<p>The World Health Organization promotes the SAFE (Surgery, Antibiotics, Facial cleanliness, and Environmental improvements) strategy for trachoma control and prevention. The F&amp;E components of the strategy focus on promotion of healthy hygiene and sanitation behaviors. In order to monitor F&amp;E activities implemented across villages and schools in Malawi, Tanzania, and Uganda, an F&amp;E Monitoring and Evaluation (FEME) framework was developed to track quarterly program outputs and to provide the basis for a pre and post evaluation of the activities. Results showed an increase in knowledge at the school and household levels, and in some cases, an increase in presence of hand/face washing stations. However, this did not always result in a change in trachoma prevention behaviors such as facial cleanliness or keeping compounds free of human feces. The results highlight that the F&amp;E programs were effective in increasing awareness of trachoma prevention but not able to translate that knowledge into changes in behavior during the time between pre and post-surveys. This study also indicates the potential to improve the data collection and survey design and notes that the period of intervention was not long enough to measure significant changes.</p>
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