An international research team led by Professor Christine Stauber from the Georgia State University (GSU) School of Public Health is developing a mobile application to address sanitation challenges in low-income, densely populated urban communities. The initiative is supported by a five-year grant of up to $1.1 million from the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health.
The project will focus on an informal community on the outskirts of Salvador, Brazil. Researchers aim to work closely with residents to create messaging and features for the app that are culturally relevant. Over the study period, they will evaluate whether the app encourages more households to connect to sewer systems and report maintenance issues.
“The lessons we learn from the development and testing of this app can help improve health and quality of life for the residents of Salvador,” said Stauber. “They also have the potential to be applied to resource-limited communities around the world, including here in the United States.”
More than 10% of Brazil’s population lives in informal settlements known as favelas, where poor sanitation increases risks for diseases such as leptospirosis and mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue, Zika, and chikungunya.
The app, called +Mais-Lugar (“place” in Portuguese), allows users to photograph and report problems like open sewers or broken infrastructure using their smartphones or other devices. Artificial intelligence will classify these images, and data collected through the app will be shared with local water and sanitation service providers for integration into their operations.
“The widespread adoption of mobile phones creates opportunities for cost-effective and scalable solutions to sanitation challenges,” said co-principal investigator Federico Costa from the Federal University of Bahia and Fiocruz. “By designing apps in collaboration with community members, we can help ensure that they meet their specific needs.”
Feedback from early users led developers to add voice recording capabilities and WhatsApp integration. To increase participation among those not connected to existing sewer systems, anonymous reporting was also introduced.
“Mobile health technologies such as these have the potential to give people who otherwise might not have a seat at the table the opportunity to shape decisions about sanitation infrastructure,” Stauber said.
Stauber has previously led study abroad programs in Brazil focused on water, sanitation, and hygiene. In a recent study published in PLoS Water with Costa, she highlighted how monitoring wastewater for human mitochondrial DNA could serve as an early warning system for infectious diseases common in tropical regions.
Other investigators involved include Anu Bourgeois (GSU Department of Computer Science), Joe Brown (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Mitermayer Reis (Instituto Gonçalo Moniz), Claire Spears (GSU School of Public Health), and Cassandra White (GSU Department of Anthropology).
Research reported was supported by award number 4R33TW012610-03 from the Fogarty International Center; however, its content does not necessarily represent official views of the National Institutes of Health.
