Abstract

Cholera resurgence has hit 195,000 confirmed cases with 1,900 deaths. Several empirical studies indicate that access to safe drinking water, sanitation, and basic hygiene (WASH) is essential for containing the spread. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is the only region where access to WASH decreases, posing a significant obstacle to attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)-6. We employed the Panel Pool Mean Group Econometric technique to analyze the financial and social barriers to safe WASH practices to establish that illiteracy is the most significant social barrier to safe WASH, and lack of access to energy and low per capita income are the notable financial barriers. We found social and financial barriers to foster low access to safe drinking water, thereby propelling the spread of cholera and related diseases. The study contributes to practice by informing policymakers and practitioners that social and financial barriers to safe WASH could relapse SDG-6 attainment by 2030 if urgent steps are not taken. We suggest that the government of SSA countries replicate the fifteen WASH cohorts established by the World Health Organization at the marketplace, hospitals, clinics and health centers, schools, prisons and correctional centers, farm settlements, and motor parks to promote access and improve safe WASH practices to contain cholera spread.