Environmental Hygiene and Household Health in Kamuli Town Council Kamuli District

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

LIST OF ACRONYMS v

LIST OF TABLES vii

LIST OF FIGURES viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ix

ABSTRACT xii

CHAPTER ONE 1

1.0 Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Statement of the problem 3

1.3 Objectives of the study 3

1.3.1 Main objective 3

1.3.2 Specific objectives 4

1.4 Research questions 4

1.5 Scope of the study 4

1.6 Purpose of the study 4

CHAPTER TWO 6

LITERATURE REVIEW 6

2.0 Introduction 6

2.1 Accessibility and Health 6

2.2 Adoption of hygiene practices 10

CHAPTER THREE 13

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 13

3.0 Introduction 13

3.1 Study Area 13

3.1.1 Location of study Area 13

3.1.2 Population composition of the Town 13

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3.1.3 Topography of the area .13

3.1.4 Climate and vegetation of the area 14

3.1.5 Urban environment in the Town 14

3.1.6 Human settlement and housing patterns in the town 14

3.1.7 Tribes of the study area 14

3.2 Research design 14

3.3 Population and sampling 15

3.3.1 Population; 15

3.3.2 Sample size determination 15

3.3.3 Sampling 15

3.3.4 Sampling procedure 16

3.4 Data collection method 16

3.4.1 Use of structured questionnaires 17

3.4.2 Observation check list 17

3.4.3 Interview guide 17

3.5 Data processing and analysis 17

3~6 Ethical considerations 18

CHAPTER FOUR 19

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 19

4.0 Introduction 19

4.1 Demographic characteristics of respondents 19

4.1.1 Sex of respondents 19

4.1.2 Age of Respondents 20

4.1.3 Education level of respondents 20

4.1.4 Employment of respondents 21

4.1.5 Place of origin 21

4.1.6 Marital status of respondents 22

4.1.7 Land tenure of the respondents 22

4.2 Basic hygiene practices commonly practiced by the people living in Kamuli Town

Council 23

4.2.1 Kind of container for fetching water 23

4.2.2 Use of different containers for storing drinking water 24

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4.2.3 Ways of getting drinking water from the container 24

4.2.4 Treatment of drinking water 25

4.2.5 Use ofdust bins at home 25

4.2.6 How often are bathrooms and latrines cleaned 26

4.2.7 Hand washing 26

4.3 Access to sanitation facilities for environmental hygiene promotion 27

4.3.1 Access to a good sanitary latrine 27

4.3.2 How people use latrines in their households 28

4.3.3 Kind of toilet facility in the households 29

4.3.4 The kind of waste water system connected for draining away waste water from home 29

4.3.5 Availability of a hand washing facility (tip tap) in the households 30

4.3.6 Availability of drying frames for utensils in the households 30

4.4 Adoption of hygiene practices by people in their respective households 31

4.4.1 How people learn new hygiene practices 31

4.4.2 Kind of diseases caused by poor hygiene common among households in KTC 31

CHAPTER FIVE 33

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 33

5.1 CONCLUSION 33

5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 34

5.2.1 Creation of awareness and public sensitization 34

5.2.2 Recruitment of more health inspectors 34

5.2.3 Construction of sewerage system 34

5.2.4 Fonnation of Community Health Clubs (CHC5) 35

5.2.6 Setting up strict laws and policies for only town dwellers in Kamuli Town Council.... 35

5.3 Further Research 35

REFERENCES 36

APPENDICES 40

APPENDIX I QUESTIONNAIRE 40

APPENDIX 2:INTERVIEW GUIDE (LOCAL AUTHORITIES, NOOS, CBOS, HEALTH

INSTITUTIONS) 49

APPENDIX 3:OBSERVATION CHECKLIST (FOR THE RESEARCHER ONLY) 52

APPENDIX 4 AUTHORIZATION LETtER 54

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ABSTRACT

Historically there has been life behind our ways of living and human health has always been linked to our surroundings. During early ages of child development, there are practices that parents instill into their children not for formality but for good health even in the child’s future. Though some practices are forcefully instilled into some children like bathing of one’s body some practices like cleaning of the compound, having a good latrine are always the responsibility ofparents. Today many people are facing cyclic sicknesses because of neglecting sanitation and hygiene practices. Diarrhea and malaria especially among children of 0-4 years is a major causal factor for the increased mortality rate among people. This study looked at the practices that some people tend to ignore and are thus not taken as serious issues to somebody’s health. The objectives were; to find out the basic hygiene practices known by the people in KTC, to determine the availability, accessibility and status of sanitation facilities at household level in KTC, to determine the rate of adoption of the known hygienic practices in preventing infection and promoting healthy living. The study used a number of methods and these include; questionnaire, interview guides, observation checklist, photography and focus group discussions. The findings indicated that the practice of boiling drinking water is not common among majority of households. There is poor waste management both solid waste and waste water which act can lead to contamination of water sources by run off through the town, yet these water sources (spring water sources) are among the major sources of safe drinking water. Thus with time they may no longer be safe because of poorly managed urban waste. The study also found out that some areas in the town do not have well designed system for solid waste collection and thus people end up dumping waste everywhere, such dump sites looked unhygienic with bad odour which is unpleasant to people’s health. In conclusion, household hygiene is still poor among urbanites, many people risk to drink untreated drinking water yet such water (bore holes and spring water) is not safe. As a result, promotion of household environmental hygiene calls for concerted effort by both the government and NOOs and the people instead of leaving all to NGOs only if we are to break the cycle of hygiene and sanitation related infections. However, there are recommendations that can be undertaken as first step towards promotion of environmental hygiene in KTC and these included; sensitization of people about hygiene, recruitment of more health inspectors, construction of sewage treatment system and formation of community health clubs.