Maintaining Hand Hygiene in the Informal Settlements: Reflections on Compliance for Covid-19 Preventative Measures

Abstract

South Africa experiences challenges with informal settlements that have inadequate water supplies and sanitation measures, thus affecting people’s health status. As countries globally aim to attain Sustainable Development Goals 3 and 6, it is necessary to recognise how human well-being is significantly dependent on safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene. Poor sanitation and an inadequate water supply to areas where people live lead to poor hygiene that may cause illnesses like diarrhoea. In this chapter, we reflect on the challenges that we faced during the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects on the practice of good hygiene. We used information from grey literature such as newspapers, reports from districts and radio interviews to extract stories from community members who experienced constraints in maintaining hygienic conditions during Covid-19. Results revealed that constraints, such as being confined in a shack, a lack of running water and poor sanitation affected community members’ compliance to Covid-19 preventive measures.