Health related problems are common in all WDO target communities, often related to poor sanitation and hygiene practices. Community members lack access to clean water and are forced to drink from contaminated sources. The villages WDO work with are often absent in toilets or latrines and basic knowledge on hygiene practices. This has implications for the health of both the people and their animals.

Lack of adequate diet is also a contributing factor to recurrent illness, compounded by an overly strenuous and labor-intensive workload to produce the food. Children are particularly susceptible to acute respiratory tract infections, and fevers are a common complaint. Malaria is also common and can result from work in the forested border areas.

The WCDP field staff conduct workshops for the villagers in community development, environmental education, hygiene and basic health care, including the importance of using toilets and how to use them. Through the core groups, WDO partners with local communities to implement the health initiatives such as; building toilets, providing water filters, providing loan schemes and repairing clean water pumps.