Human Development

Piloting a novel delivery mechanism of a critical public health service in India: arsenic testing of tubewell water in the field for a fee

Chander Kumar Singh

Alexander van Geen

01 February 2013

2

min read

Notes from the Field

IGC Research on India

Explainers

The goal of this project was to determine the willingness of rural households in the state of Bihar, India, to have their tubewell tested for arsenic for a fee. Following public information sessions describing the health risks associated with drinking high-arsenic drinking water, a total of 1,804 households distributed across 26 small- to medium-sized villages were offered a test between October and December 2012. Under the conditions of the experiment, most households were not willing to cover the estimated total cost of a test of Rs. 100-150, including kit reagents, a hand-held GPS unit for data entry, and some form quality-control provided by a supervisor.

Chander Kumar Singh

Alexander van Geen

Columbia University

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