Priority setting for global WASH challenges in the age of wastewater-based epidemiological surveillance

Background: It is not known how the number of deaths due to COVID-19 compare to the number of deaths due to "unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing" during the COVID-19 global health emergency.

Methods: A dataset of  deaths due to COVID-19 was downloaded from the World Health Organization. A dataset summarizing deaths due to unsafe water, sanitation, and handwashing was obtained from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).  

Results indicate that COVID-19 deaths in Africa and South East Asia regions exceeded those due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene. 

Methods
Two raw datasets were obtained and processed.  

To construct the dataset, "Estimates of  mortality due to inadequate water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) during the COVID-19 Global Health Emergency"  raw data were downloaded from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). The raw dataset was reduced, eliminating variables. The original IHME dataset was for the year 2019. IMHE does not yet have data for 2020 or beyond. The final data contains calculations that project into 2020-2023 the estimated number of WASH-related deaths, by region. That was done by multiplying the 2019 estimated deaths by regions, by a factor of the duration of the pandemic period/the number of days in 2019, assuming a constant rate. 

To construct the dataset "Estimates of COVID-19  mortality, by region January 3 2020-May 5, 2023, with assumptions about undercounting" raw data were downloaded from the public WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. The raw dataset contains COVID-19 mortality data by country, by date. The raw data were tabulated by region (rather than by country) and for the  period of January 3, 2020-May 5, 2023 (rather than by date).