The Impact of Sanitation and Hygiene Among Women: a Case Study of Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the Study
The major purpose of this study is to find out how sanitation and hygiene practices affect women health in Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area. Specifically this study seeks to:
- Examine the effect of provision of hygiene educationon the health state of women in Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area
- Determine the effect of provision of toilet facilities on the health state of women in the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area
- Investigate the effect of monitoring the operation and maintenance of sanitation facilities on the health state of women in Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area
- Examine the effect of employing external cleaner in the institution on the health state of women in the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area
- Find out the effect of provision of adequate water system on the health state of women in the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
HEALTH PRACTICES
Availability of health facilities is a pre-requisite for putting health knowledge into action. Thus, knowledge is reinforced by practice. Health facilities include toilets, water supply, refuse bins, hand washing facilities etc. For example if a child or pupil is instructed to wash his/her hands after going to toilet, hand wash facilities must be available to make the action possible. Similarly, if the community children are instructed not to litter the community premises or classroom with paper, then waste paper bin or baskets should be provided to help them transform the instruction into action. These control functions constitute a major aspect. The responsibility for such control rest with each member of the family, teacher and other staff in the community, employers in the work places.
According to Nkom and Essien (2002), practices relate to those basic aptitudes, abilities or the technical competence to handle, in a very practical way, the problems, situations, emergencies and needs which exist or may arise with respect to water and sanitation including the ability to teach or impact these skills to others. Some of these skills, would also encompass the ability to design, construct, build, repair and maintain water and sanitation related infrastructure, installations and mechanisms.
For hygiene education to succeed, the people must not only be carried along they must actively participate in the design, implementation and evaluation of the propgramme. Sanitation or hygiene education is by its nature, not an immediate felt – need for rural community. The advantage in this particular project is that it enables government to use the water supply component which is a critical felt – need as a carrot to induce and push through a programme of sanitation and behaviour change which, though not a felt-need, is very fundamental in improving people’s welfare and health status.
SOIL: According to Umoh (2002), lack of certain mineral elements may result in deficiency in plants, animals and human beings living there e.g iodine deficiency causing goiter in man.
- Presence of certain minerals in excess amount could lead to poisoning e.g arsenic poisoning, lead poisoning.
- Poor soils in inadequate vegetation resulting in malnutrition in ruminants and subsequently, malnutrition in human
- Malnutrition reduces resistance to diseases.
- Soil may be contaminated with human and animal wastes, which carry pathogens etc
CONCEPT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION
According to Aleng (2005), environment is defined as man’s immediate surrounding. The Oxford Advanced Learners English Dictionary (2001) defines environment as conditions, circumstances affecting peoples’ lives”. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1998) (vol. 4) sees environment as a “Complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors that act upon an organism or an ecologic community and ultimately determines its form and survival”. Uchegbu (1998), defines environment as the sum total for all conditions that surround man at any point in time on the earths surface. However, the environment as a community of organisms is not the sum total of the participating members but a dynamic nature at complex levels of interactions, unfolding in drama sketches, stretching between the remotest past at creation and the enforceable future. According to Park (1998), the term ‘environment’ implies “the eternal factors-living and non- living, materials and non materials which surround man”.
In its modern concept, environment includes not only the water, air and soil that form our surroundings but also those social and economic conditions under which we live. Viewing human environment from the economic point, Uchegbu (1998) describes it as natural capital and analogous to financial capital assets. He further explained that any damage done to the environment run down capital which sooner or latter reduces the value of its recumbent services. For residential ideals situation puts the health of its residents at stake. The residents as well can be psychologically affected when any little damage (or disturbance from its ideal condition) is done to residential housing environment.
Nest (1991), defined environmental health as the “control of those factors in man’s physical environment which exercise or may exercise deleterious effects on man’s physical mental and social well being”. According to WHO (1977), the objective of environmental health is to crane and maintain conditions in the environment that will promote health and prevent diseases. Man’s eternal environment contains elements that are essential for life and/or the maintenance of good health such as air, food, water, etc. In addition the environment contains potential hazards.
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE
Introduction
The population and sample used for this study and the method with which the population was obtained were described in this chapter. The chapter also contained the description of the instrument used for the collection of data and the statistical method adopted in analyzing the data collected.
Research Design
The study adopted ex-post facto research design since it was concerned with the investigation of past occurrences. A survey method was therefore adopted in determining the level of the health knowledge of the Women in the Akwa ibom state. The research is one in which a group of items are studied by collecting and analyzing data from only a few people or items considered to be representative of the entire group. The research is therefore a descriptive type using specifically a survey design.
Population of the Study
The study was carried out in the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area, town campus. The population of the study consisted of mainly. In this study the total population is estimated to be 6,299 women with age ranging below 19 and 26 years.
Sample Selection and Technique
For the purpose of this study, the sampling technique used was multi- stage random sampling technique. The study selected, two zones were chosen by simply tossing the names of the three zones written on pieces of paper and picking only two. The two zones picked were: Uromi and Utako.
He then asked the women to pick. Those that picked with numbers were those that the questionnaire were given and those that picked the blank papers, questionnaires were not given to them. This was followed with explanation and interview. Out of a total of 6,299 estimated enrolled woman population, 250 women were eventually used as target respondents. However, 246 women filled questionnaires were eventually used as four copies were not returned and two were considered invalid.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Discussion
The results of this study revealed that maximum women 100% of the women use well water for drinking and cleaning purposes. It was observed that the appearance of maximum household’s drinking water was clean. Most of the drinking water source (56.1%) is within 4–7 meter from toilet. Most of women were unaware of toilet cleaning, 51.6% toilets were not cleaned regularly. It was observed that the poor maintenance of toilet surroundings and entrance. About 63% women were preserved their solid waste in open space, only 9.3% households were thrown in dustbin. Maximum women (58.1%) did not wear footwear while going to the toilet, 41.9% women wore footwear while going to latrine. Most of the (63.4%) women do not use cover for safety of the prepared food, 36.6% use cover properly for safety of the prepared food. Majorities (63%) of the drain/sewage lines in the community were rarely cleaned up and 37% areas of the community had no drainage facility and 87.4% hostel rooms had no dustbin facility. The woman morbidity rate was high. The overall health status of the women shows that 40.7% women were underweight, 28.9% women were stunted and 31.3% women were wasted. The water quality parameters, Environmental sanitation parameters and Hygiene practices parameters are positively correlated with health status. The impact of water quality, environmental sanitation and hygiene practices on health status is significant (p ≤ 0.05).
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Conclusions
The good hygienic and sanitation knowledge and the practice have been found to be significantly low among the women of Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area. The dustbin facility is the most neglected sector in the community. Besides, Solid waste management and drainage system are totally unsatisfactory in the study area. The woman morbidity rate was high. The water quality, environmental sanitation and hygiene practices have significant impact (p≤ 0.05) on the health of women of the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area.
The findings from this study revealed, among others, that there was the need for health officials to be visiting Communities promoting enlightenment on environmental sanitation among women in Akwa Ibom State. Also, the study shows that women who are directly controlled and enlightened have better disposition in their environmental sanitation and practice.
Recommendations
Based on the findings of this study, the researcher made the following recommendations:
- The women should be encouraged to put their knowledge of environmental sanitation into action or practice.
- The communities should invite expert or specialists to talk to women about environmental sanitation.
- The Government should assist in providing health promoting facilities such as toilets, water supply, refuse bins, hand washing facilities, etc in the Egbele, Esan North East Local Government Area for proper execution of health practices.
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- Adetoye, F (1999). The Geography question paper and how to answer it. A hand book of Geography Teaching for Communities and Colleges. Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria, Plc pp.340.
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