Burden of Diarrheal Diseases from Biogas Wastewater Exposure Among Smallholder Farmers in Ha Nam Province, Vietnam Phuc Pham-Duc; Toan Luu-Quoc; Huong Nguyen-Mai; Tuyet-Hanh Tran Thi; Tung Dinh-Xuan; Hang Tran-Minh; Hung Nguyen-Viet Center for Public Health & Ecosystem Research, Hanoi University of Public Health; National Institute of Animal Scienc- es; Institute of Anthropology; Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences; International Livestock Research Institute INTRODUCTION Livestock producon has developed rapidly in Vietnam in recent years, parcu- larly at the small-scale which account for 65% of the total livestock producon. Biogas systems are commonly used to treat livestock waste, however, the health risks from biogas wastewater exposure at smallholder farms are not yet well understood. Objecve was applied transdisciplinary and community par- cipatory approach (called Ecohealth approach) to assess the health risks as- sociated with biogas wastewater; and improve knowledge and pracce of farmer for beer operaon of biogas systems and treatment of waste. Contact: Phuc Pham-Duc Email: [email protected] ; [email protected] Mobile: (+84) 904049969. Web: www.vohun.org METHODS Research Process A quantave microbial risk assessment approach was applied to esmate the burden of diarrheal diseases from biogas wastewater exposure among 451 smallholder farmers using biogas systems in Ha Nam province. A total of 150 biogas wastewater samples were collected and analysed for E. coli, Giardia, and Cryptosporidium. CONCLUSION The results suggest the importance in reducing concentraons of pathogens in biogas wastewater before use in the fields as a means for migang pub- lic health impacts. The study showed that farmers faced diarrheal disease risks due to expo- sure to biogas wastewater at different exposure scenarios. The calculated annual risk of diarrheal disease by E. coli ranked from 0.15 to 0.21; by Giar- dia ranked from 0.022 to 0.095; and by Cryptosporidium ranked from 0.006 to 0.015. The esmated diarrheal diseases burden from pathogens in all ex- posure scenarios largely exceeded the reference level of health outcome target of 10 -6 DALYs loss per person per year recommended by WHO. RESULTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study was supported by the Canadian Internaonal Development Research Center (IDRC) through the project of Ecohealth Field Building Leadership Iniave (FBLI) in Southeast Asia. This poster presentaon and travel award are made possible by the generous sup- port of the American people through the United States Agency for Internaonal Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the presenters and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. Current status of agriculture & environment in Ha Nam Pathogens in biogas wastewater at the small-holder farms Figure 1: The burden of diarrhoeal from pathogens in all the expo- sure scenarios Pathogens Positive Mean ± SD QCVN 62- MT:2016/ BTNMT n % E. coli (*) (CFU/ml) 75 100 14,665 ± 34,854 5,000 Giardia (**) (cysts/ml) 33 44.0 9.4 ± 23.0 - Cryptosporidium (**) (cysts/ml) 26 34.7 9.2 ± 25.7 -