An Epidemiological Study to Assess Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices among Rural Communities of Gulu, Kano, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Worldwide, 663 million people do not have access to improved drinking water supplies and 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation including one billion who practice open defecation. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of deaths from diarrheal diseases are attributable to unsafe water, inadequate sanitation, and insufficient hygiene practices. So this study is aimed at assessing water, sanitation and hygiene practice among rural communities of Gulu Kano, Nigeria. Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Gulu from January, 2019 to February, 2019. Data was collected using a pretested structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was performed to obtain the frequency distribution of the variables. Results: The result shows that 300 participants responded to the questionnaire. The majority of respondents used unprotected spring 70 (23.3%) followed by protected hand dug well 65 (21.7%) for all domestic use. Most of the respondents 205 (68.3%) had covered their stored water and practiced pouring method to withdraw water from the stored container. Majority 204 (68%) of households had access to water within a time of 30 minutes or less. House hold water treatment was not common in the study area, only 25 (8.3%) households practiced. About one hundred and ninety-nine (66.3%) households had latrine facility, of which 208 (69.3%) was open Pit latrine without slab. Of those households having latrine only 111 (37%) households had hand washing facility. Conclusion: This study revealed that most of the respondents had poor water, sanitation and hygiene practice. Thus, it underscores that there should be great attention and further research and interventions are required to search for other sources of water and mobilize and educate the community towards protecting the water sources.