Poor Environmental Sanitation and Public Health Challenges
CHAPTER ONE
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To assess and evaluate environmental sanitation practices in the study area.
- To examine the health related problems associated with poor environmental sanitation in the study area.
- To highlight the constraints and challenges of keeping healthy environment in Lagos State.
- To make recommendations for improving and promoting quality sanitation habits among the residents in the study area.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Introduction
In developing countries, waste management often emerges as a problem that endangers human health and the environment. To make matters worse, waste management usually has a low priority on the political agenda of such countries, as they are struggling with other important issues such as hunger, health problems, water shortages and unemployment. In such situations, it is easy to understand why waste problems have a tendency to grow steadily. Fast-growing population, poverty of large numbers of urban households, and persistent deterioration of living conditions are some of the challenges facing cities of the developing world (McMichael et al., 2000). Several researches in the past have focused on investigating the cost-benefits of providing safe and convenient living conditions to households in the developing world, especially on housing conditions, notably on the relationship between water, sanitation and disease (Cairncross, 1996; UN-HABITAT, 2006). These researches observed that water supply, sanitation and health are closely related. It is also evident that each year, poor hygiene, mismanagement of liquid or solid waste, and lack of sanitation facilities contribute to the death of millions of the world’s poorest people from preventable diseases (Cairncross, 1996). Considering the nexus Cleansing/sanitation and health, empirical evidence points to their close linkages. In particular, the relationship could be outlined as follows: C As cities continue to grow, the management of solid waste is becoming a major environmental and public health concern in urban areas of many developing countries C Lack of sanitation, unsafe disposal or storage of waste in/around houses and streets, and in undesignated containers may provide habitats for vectors of that cause various infectious diseases including amibiasis, typhoid fever and diarrhoeas (Ogawa, 2005) C Uncontrolled landfills are a huge danger for the surrounding environment and are a health risk to the population, causing contamination of the drinking water and soil (Fitzpatrick and Lagory, 2000) C More than five million people die each year from diseases related to inadequate waste disposal systems (WHO, 2007) C More than five million people die each year from diseases related to inadequate waste disposal systems (WHO, 2007); It is estimated that 1.8 million people die worldwide every year from diarrhoeal diseases (including cholera) Amongst them, 90% are children under 5 mostly in developing societies. An estimated 88% of this burden is attributed to unsafe drinking water supply, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene (Tumwine et al., 2002). These risk factors do not evenly threaten urban districts as slums and informal settlements are more vulnerable to communicable diseases (Kawachi and Berkman, 2003). Despite the quantity of studies carried out, relatively little is known about the key contribution of waste management in Diarrhoeal incidence. In particular, households’ refuse has rarely been examined. Among the regions of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa needs to fill the research gaps in the area, especially because the region has the fastest growing urban population and the majority of city dwellers have least access to urban equipments (Stren and Rodney, 1998). Under this backdrop, this study examines health outcomes in the context of rapid urban population growth without adequate accompanying services and infrastructure.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to Poor environmental sanitation and public health challenges
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
Primary source and Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was to ascertain Poor environmental sanitation and public health challenges
In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of Poor environmental sanitation and public health challenges
Summary
This study was Poor environmental sanitation and public health challenges. Four objectives were raised which included: To assess and evaluate environmental sanitation practices in the study area, to examine the health related problems associated with poor environmental sanitation in the study area, to highlight the constraints and challenges of keeping healthy environment in Lagos State and to make recommendations for improving and promoting quality sanitation habits among the residents in the study area.
In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 residents of Ojo local government of Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made up returning civil servants, businessmen, married men and married women were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Although many countries face major challenges in maintaining the gains made in reducing mortality or in achieving further reductions among the individuals, current knowledge provides a good basis for the design and implementation of effective interventions. Given that a number of behavioral factors have a very significant influence on health and longevity, public health authorities have the responsibilities of promoting those behaviour that are most likely to enhance the chances of households for a long and healthy life. The means to do so exist, but the will to intervene must be strengthened
Recommendation
Legislations should be enforced concerning indiscriminate dumping of refuse at road-sides and nonparticipation in the regular community sanitation exercise. Defaulters should be made to face the full wrath of the law. Health education should be done by the local authority on the need for household hygiene at various homes vis-à-vis keeping their toilets clean, disinfecting drinking water and protecting their water sources. Health education should be carried out on the need for the inhabitants to adopt the habit of regular hand washing after using toilets and before embarking on food preparation or taking meals. The local authorities should endeavour to provide more refuse containers and place them at strategic positions. The various communities should be empowered with sanitation tools like spades, cutlasses, wheelbarrow etc. for effective participation
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