dr. C. Anthonj | People Pages: Find employees & contact details

I am an Assistant Professor with a Tenure Track Chair on Water, Health and Decisions at the Faculty ITC, University of Twente. My mission is to use water- and health-related related knowledge, information and data to inform improved health-promoting decision-making and interventions.

My group focuses on water and health challenges and how to solve them. Our research aims at providing safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) to prevent exposure to water-related infectious disease, at reducing adverse impacts of extreme weather events on health-promoting infrastructure, and at promoting blue spaces to support well-being. We use a broad nexus perspective, and consider implications of environmental justice and inequality, extreme weather events, cultural context, and are particularly interested in working with vulnerable population groups.

We conduct empirical mixed methods research and employ a number of different research methods and tools, closely involving the target population in capturing spatial and non-spatial, individual and collective information to co-define challenges they are facing, co-design methods that work best for them, and co-create solutions and interventions. We work across different sectors and with different stakeholders, and collaborate with international organizations, governments and research institutes globally.

Our ongoing projects are being implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Ghana, Zimbabwe), Latin America (Brazil, Peru), and Europe (Netherlands, Germany).

Expertise

Medicine and Dentistry
- Water
- Hygiene
- Health
- Health Hazard
Social Sciences
- Sanitation
- Diseases
- Health Risk
Earth and Planetary Sciences
- Investigation

Organisations

My research focuses on water- and health-related infrastructure, knowledge and behaviour. I consider water and health challenges, such as

water-related infectious disease exposure and prevention;
provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH);
impact of flooding on WASH, disease exposure and healthcare service provision

from a broader nexus perspective. That includes, for example, implications of inequality, extreme weather events, education and cultural context. I am interested in local knowledge, perspectives and perceptions of water- and health-related challenges and in understanding how such local and contextualized knowledge can be used to inform public health planning, decision-making and interventions.

Publications

2024

Child feces disposal practices in humanitarian and non-humanitarian settings across 34 low- and middle-income countries, Article 173547. Beardsley, R., Lebu, S., Anthonj, C. & Manga, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173547Shared sanitation in informal settlements: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence, preferences, and quality, Article 114392. Sprouse, L., Lebu, S., Nguyen, J., Muoghalu, C., Uwase, A., Guo, J., Baldwin-SoRelle, C., Anthonj, C., Simiyu, S. N., Akudago, J. A. & Manga, M.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114392Wasser-, Sanitaer- und Hygieneversorgung (WASH) wohnungsloser Menschen: eine Herausforderung fuer staedtische Gesundheitssysteme, Article 2/24, 64. Anthonj, C., Grunwald, N., Leinen, A. & Stanglow, S.“A question of human dignity”. Identifying solutions to improve WASH for people experiencing homelessness. A case study from Germany, Article 100176, 1-10 (E-pub ahead of print/First online). Anthonj, C., Stanglow, S., Leinen, A., Flacke, J., Manga, M., Schmiege, D. & Grunwald, N.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasec.2024.100176Preparing schools for future pandemics: Insights on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene solutions from the Brazilian School Reopening Policies., Article 114325. Mingoti Poague, K. I. H., Blanford, J. I., Martinez, J. & Anthonj, C.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2024.114325Co-defining WASH (In)Security challenges among people experiencing homelessness. A qualitative study on the Human Right to Water and Sanitation from Bonn, Germany, Article 116561. Anthonj, C., Stanglow, S. & Grunwald, N.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.116561Invisible struggles: WASH insecurity and implications of extreme weather among urban homeless in high-income countries - A systematic scoping review, Article 114285. Anthonj, C., Mingoti Poague, K. I. H., Fleming, L. & Stanglow, S.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2023.114285

2023

The effects of racism, social exclusion, and discrimination on achieving universal safe water and sanitation in high-income countries, e606-e614. Brown, J., Acey, C. S., Anthonj, C., Barrington, D. J., Beal, C. D., Capone, D., Cumming, O., Fedinick, K. P., MacDonald Gibson, J., Hicks, B., Kozubik, M., Lakatosova, N., Linden, K., Love, N. G., Mattos, K. J., Murphy, H. M. & Winkler, I. T.https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(23)00006-2Do health risk perceptions motivate water- and health-related behaviour?. Anthonj, C.Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) in schools in Brazil pre-and peri-COVID-19 pandemic: Are schools making any progress?, Article 114069. Mingoti Poague, K. I. H., Blanford, J. I., Martinez, J. & Anthonj, C.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114069

Other contributions

Selected publications

Anthonj, C., Githinji, S., Höser, C., Stein, A., Blanford, J., Grossi, V., 2021. Kenyan school book knowledge for water, sanitation, hygiene and health education interventions: Disconnect, integration or opportunities? International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 235, 113756.

Manga, M., Camargo-Valero, M.A., Anthonj, C., Evans, B.E., 2021. Fate of faecal pathogen indicators during faecal sludge composting with different bulking agents in tropical climate. International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 232, 113670.

Anthonj, C., Setty, K.S., Ezbakhe, F., Manga, M., Hoeser, C., 2020. A systematic review of water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental health among Roma communities in Europe: Situation analysis, cultural context, and obstacles to improvement. International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 226 (113506).

Cori, L., Bianchi, F., Cadum, E., Anthonj, C., 2020. Risk Perception and COVID-19. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17(9), 3114.

Anthonj, C., Tracy, J.W., Fleming, L., Shields, K.F., Tikoisuva, W.M., Kelly, E.R., Thakkar, M.B., Cronk, R.D., Overmars, M., Bartram, J., 2020. Geographical inequalities in drinking water in the Solomon Islands. Science of the Total Environment 712, 135241.

Fleming, L., Anthonj, C., Thakkar, M.B., Tikoisuva, W.M., Cronk, R. Kelly, E., Shields, K.F., Manga, M., Howard, G., Overmars, M., Bartram, J., 2019. Urban and rural sanitation and hygiene in the Solomon Islands: resilient to extreme weather events? Science of the Total Environment 683, 331-340.

Anthonj, C., Falkenberg, T., 2019. Thirst World? Linking Water and Health in the Context of Development. Book chapter in: Blue Space, Health and Wellbeing: Hydrophilia Unbounded. Routledge. 167-189.

Anthonj, C., Diekkrüger, B., Borgemeister, C., Kistemann, T., 2019. Health risk perceptions and local knowledge of water-related infectious disease exposure among Kenyan wetland communities. International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 222 (1), 34-48.

Anthonj, C., Fleming, L., Cronk, R., Godfrey, S., Ambelu, A., Bevan, J., Sozzi, E., Bartram, J., 2018. Improving monitoring and water point functionality in rural Ethiopia. Water 10 (11), 1591.

Anthonj, C., Githinji, S., Kistemann, T., 2018. The impact of water on health and ill-health in a sub- Saharan African wetland: Exploring both sides of the coin. Science of the Total Environment 624, 1411-1420.

Anthonj, C., Rechenburg, A., Höser, C., Kistemann, T., 2017. Contracting Infectious Diseases in Sub-Saharan African Wetlands: A Question of Use? A Review. International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 220, 1110-1123

Anthonj, C., Rechenburg, A., Kistemann, T., 2016. Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Wetlands. The Case of Ewaso Narok Swamp, Kenya. International Journal for Hygiene and Environmental Health 219 (7), 606-616.

Anthonj, C., Nkongolo, O.T., Schmitz, P., Hango, J.N., Kistemann, T., 2015. The Impact of Flooding on People living with HIV: a case study from Ohangwena Region, Namibia. Global Health Action 8, 26441.

Research profiles

Affiliated study programs

Courses academic year 2023/2024

Courses in the current academic year are added at the moment they are finalised in the Osiris system. Therefore it is possible that the list is not yet complete for the whole academic year.