The Revitalization of Community Health Care Initiatives in Bangladesh (RCHCIB), a project of the Government of Bangladesh, will expand the use of tippy taps and community nutrition champions throughout the country, both strategies introduced by SPRING. The RCHCIB project works to spread health services through community clinics free of cost to those who live in remote areas or cannot afford services elsewhere. We have collaborated with RCHCIB since 2012 to promote the essential nutrition actions and the essential hygiene actions (ENA/EHA) and were the first project in Bangladesh to promote the use of tippy taps as part of this effort.
Although SPRING/Bangladesh only works in two divisions of the country, the excitement around tippy taps has made it a countrywide sensation. The senior management body of RCHCIB recently asked every community clinic across the country to install tippy taps. They hope the countrywide use of this hand washing device will encourage people to wash their hands with soap more regularly and, in turn, help make Bangladesh disease-free.
RCHCIB also announced that SPRING’s community nutrition champions will be invited to work with the community clinic community support groups. These groups are vital to the maintenance and upkeep of the community clinics and are an important vehicle for linking communities to local health issues. A community nutrition champion is a graduate of the SPRING-led Farmer Nutrition School who is elected to spread messages about nutrition and hand hygiene in her community as a volunteer. RCHCIB hopes that incorporating community nutrition champions into these community support groups will improve knowledge and awareness of nutrition among local populations.