Parasitology Today, vol. 5, no. i’, I989

malaria, various arboviruses, and in some places lymphatic filariasis, as well as pro- viding habitats for the snail intermediate hosts of schistosomiasis. Moreover, if there are large resettlement schemes, slum conditions may arise, accompanied by accumulation of polluted waters which provide ideal breeding places for the mosquito Culex quinquefasciatus, an important vector of bancroftian filariasis.

Although these health problems have long been recognized - albeit not always to their full extent - little I-ias been done to tackle them. However, more recently several organizations such as the Inter- national Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Agri- culture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organ- ization (WHO), in particular their Panel of Experts on Environmental Manage- ment for Vector Control (PEEM), have organized international workshops on health problems generated by irrigated rice, and issued recommendations and discussion papers stressing, the need to take a holistic approach to the rice eco- system and its problems.

This book comprises a series of papers that were presented at an inter- national meeting on riceland agroecosys- terns held during March I987 at IRRI. It is an attractively produced book with a high standard of graphics; there are no photographs except for the obligatory one of the workshop participants! There are 22 chapters, written by vector biol- ogists, medical epidemiologi:;ts and agron- omists on topics ranging from vector biology, the role of vectors in disease transmission, and possible control strategies. As to be expected from a book of this sort, some contributors have been more conscientious than

others in writing their chapters. There are some good overviews of irrigation problems and some informative presen- tations on the control practices operated in several countries, whtereas some chapters tell us relatively little. Elsewhere I have pointed out that iI-rigated rice need not necessarily result in increased disease transmission if sufficient care is exercised in planning irrigation projects, but as Goonasekere and Amerasinghe rightly stress in their chapteic, many pro- jects are now fully operational and were constructed when few recognized the potential health hazards they could create. In other words, we have inherited many poorly designed projects and must try and make the best out of a bad job. Nevertheless, the winds of change are blowing, if hardly measurable on the Beaufort scale, and thanks to the

efforts of organizations such as IRRI and PEEM there is increasing awareness of the dangers lurking behind irrigation schemes. Hopefully, therefore, future irrigation projects will be better planned.

There seem to be very few typo- graphical errors in the book but there are a few incorrectly spelt species names, such as A. vequs on p.86 which I have

229

decoded as A. vagus. Regrettably there is no index. This book is essential reading to all those engaged in irrigation or other development projects, and for anyone interested in vector-borne diseases.

M.W. Service Liverpool School ofTropical Medicine

Pembroke Place LIverpool L3 5QA. UK

Ross Institute Bulletin No. 8: Small Scale Sanitation

by Sandy Cairncross, The Ross Institute, 1988.

f3.00 (60 pages) ISBN 0 900995 08 4

The subject of sanitation in poor com- munities is a fascinating and complex one which is now rightly receiving more attention from a wider range of pro- fessionals than in the past. This bookaims to provide concise reference material and guidance to those involved in such sanitation programmes. It is a more readable update of the Ross Institute’s popular Bulletin No. 8 of I978 (then entitled Small Excreta Disposal Systems). That book provided a good summary of the subject, and this edition improves on it in several important aspects. The new chapter layout makes the contents more readily accessible, the degree of rep- etition has been reduced and the style of writing is less ponderous, an important point in a book intended for readers for whom English may not be a first lan- guage. The categorization of sanitation systems is clearer and more concise and the chapter on choosing a system is a useful addition. Field workers seldom have much interest in the more esoteric systems, and actual latrine choice usually comes down to three factors: people’s wishes, money and water availability. A common problem facing field workers is the need to give prompt and clear advice to communities on the choice of latrine types. Then there is little time for elab- orate analysis, and the rules of thumb given in this Bulletin (eg. on soil classifi- cation, infiltration capacity, pit sizing) are just what is required.

Another welcome change IS the con- centration on the lower end of the cost range and the removal of some of the more fussily detailed or impractical sys- tems previously described.

However, a few minor criticisms remain. A list of tables would definitely be useful, as would a discussion of patho- gen life expectancies in pits. Also, differ- ent sections of the book still give conflicting advice on pit location with respect to water sources.

For field practitioners the social and organizational aspects of sanitation are usually paramount, and although this edi- tion gives them more coverage than the previous one, it still seems to be lacking in practical advice. The technical aspects of latrine design are addressed as imper- sonal topics, whereas in practice they cannot be divorced from a study of the users’ psychology: for example, the uni- versal habit of throwing all kinds of refuse into moving water, children’s delight in breaking anything fragile or difficultto repair, and so on.

The author also follows an unfot-tu- nate train of thought: having given an admirable summary of health matters and demonstrated that the potential for control of disease by sanitation alone is often limited, he then concentrates on the disposal of excreta without relating this to other measures such as personal and domestic hygiene and water man- agement. It is all too easy for both laymen and field workers to equate sani- tation with the disposal of excreta at the expense of a more holistic view of the relationship between health and the quality of the physical environment. It seems a shame that this book tends inadvertently to encourage the former view.

These comments notwithstanding, this book can be recommended as a clear, no-nonsense and well-researched summary of the subject. It should be of value to a wide range of readers for both background information and practical use. Anybody interested in owning only one book on low-cost sanitation need look no further.

J. Lane Water Aid

PO Box 423 I Kathmandu, Nepz

Erratum D. Warhurst (I 989) Parasitology Today 5. I97- 198, Chemotherapy and Drug Resistance in Malaria (2nd edn).

The first sentence of the second paragraph on p. 198 should read ‘Although it is unlikely that purchasers of this book will use it solely as a guide to prophylaxis and therapy, the advice it contains (chapter 25) is certainly clearer than the current WHO ‘yellow book’ and is corn- pletely up to date’, not ‘fairly up to date’.

We apologize to Dr Warhurst and Professor Peters for this editorial error.