Did you know the materials used to build your home can directly affect your health? Dr. Josh Colston, a researcher contributing to the SPRINGS project, has published a study that explores the connection between housing construction and health outcomes, particularly in regions affected by diarrhoeal, vector-borne and neglected tropical diseases.
This research offers a global perspective on housing quality and its role in shaping health risks, providing a fresh lens on how we can tackle these challenges.
Josh’s study analysed an impressive dataset—over 6 million households in 283,000 locations across 107 low- and middle-income countries. By classifying homes based on the materials used for floors, walls, and roofs (e.g., adobe, thatch, woven bamboo versus more durable, bug-resistant materials), the team uncovered significant disparities:
Healthier homes mean healthier lives. Finished floors help reduce exposure to harmful pathogens, while sturdy walls and roofs keep insects at bay, lowering the risk of malaria, Chagas disease, and other illnesses.
Josh’s findings underscore the critical link between housing and health, equipping policymakers with the evidence they need to direct interventions where they’re needed most. The spatial models developed in this research are publicly available, enabling organisations to allocate resources more effectively and improve living conditions for vulnerable populations. These models will also support the SPRINGS project in projecting the burden of disease more accurately.
This study is a vital reminder of how interconnected housing and health are—and how addressing these links can reduce health disparities across the globe.
Want to explore the full findings? You can read the paper: https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0003338