Status of Sanitation Facilities and Hygiene Practices in Yakurr Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria

Ibiang Arikpo Oka

doi:10.11648/j.ejpm.20190703.12

Abstract

The study was a descriptive study, designed to describe the status of sanitation facilities and hygiene practices in Yakurr Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria. Five communities were selected by simple random sampling for the study. Multi-stage random sampling technique which involved four stages was used to select 410 households and structured questionnaire, observation and key-informant interview were used for data collection. The statistical package for social sciences software (SPSS version 20) and MS Excel (2010) were used for data analysis. Results from the study shows that 46.1% of respondents used borehole water as main source of water. Basic types of toilet facilities available in the studied communities were inadequate and substandard; this further compound the already existing poor sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices (26.6% traditional pit latrine). Approximately 52.9% of respondents had handwashing stand to wash hands after defecating while 5.4% used basin with tap for handwashing. 53.9% of respondents washed hands with water only, while 45.6% of respondents washed hands with soap. The lack of access to potable water supply and toilet facilities could affect the general hygiene status of the communities. It was recommended among others that the government should provide more basic sanitary facilities and adequate potable water. Good personal and community hygiene requires sufficient water and basic sanitary facilities.

Highlights

The link between hygiene and sanitation, water supply and other basic infrastructure services are well recognized in developing countries, public health authorities realized that until hygiene is properly practiced, both at home as a person and in the community as a whole, the desired impact of improved water and sanitation services in terms of community health improvement, cannot be realized
The basic types of sanitary facilities half of the population in developing countries lacked access available to the residents in the studied communities are to basic sanitation facilities which include excreta disposal inadequate and substandard; this further compound the facilities
About 27% of latrines owned by residents in the already existing poor sanitation and unsafe hygiene practices, studied communities were traditional pit latrines and 6.1% of while majority of respondents who claimed ownership of pit respondents practiced unsafe excreta disposal

Summary

Introduction

The link between hygiene and sanitation, water supply and other basic infrastructure services are well recognized in developing countries, public health authorities realized that until hygiene is properly practiced, both at home as a person and in the community as a whole, the desired impact of improved water and sanitation services in terms of community health improvement, cannot be realized. In Nigeria with the population of over 170 million, the sanitation coverage according to National Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) survey of 2003 is estimated at 90% for urban areas and 66% for rural areas. These levels of coverage have been determined based on access to certain sanitation facilities such as flush toilets, traditional pit latrines and ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. The sanitation coverage as quoted by NDHS includes access to traditional pit latrines (56% for urban areas and 57% for rural communities) [3]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion