Trends in Water Service Equity in Mali: Measuring the Change in Socio-Demographic Predictors of Improved Drinking Water Access Between the 2018 and 2024 Demographic and Health Surveys

The lack of access to clean drinking water is a leading global health concern and a critical challenge in many African societies. Access to unimproved drinking water sources is intrinsically associated with poverty and a lack of basic household resources, often contributing indirectly to broader social issues, such as school dropout and incomplete educational attainment. Mali remains one of the most affected countries, struggling to meet the essential needs of its population, particularly the availability and sustained access to clean drinking water. Understanding the demographic and socioeconomic factors affecting access to drinking water is highly significant for achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3: Good health and well-being and 6: Clean water and sanitation. While some previous studies have focused on broad drinking water coverage, fewer have investigated the specific factors influencing the quality and household-level access to improved sources. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the direct factors affecting household access to improved drinking water quality. Using two successive nationally representative surveys, the 2018 and 2023–2024 Mali Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), the study analyses trends in access to various drinking water sources by comparing data across the two periods. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were employed to analyse relationships among age, gender, residential location, educational level, and household wealth index, to identify variations in drinking water access and to assess the contribution of changes in socio-demographic characteristics over time. The results revealed significant shifts in drinking water patterns between 2018 and 2023–2024, particularly highlighting widening urban-rural disparities and persistent inequality within the wealth index quintiles. The findings emphasise the vital role of socio-demographic factors in determining access to essential infrastructure and highlight the need for targeted policies to support vulnerable populations, especially those in rural areas and the poorest wealth quintiles, to improve water quality and work toward achieving the SDG goals for sanitation and health.