Abstract

This study was designed to examine how water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs could be used for community diseases control, specifically; this study is initiated to examine the relationship between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) behavior/practices and the incidence of WASH related health complications in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. Two research questions were asked as to how the sampled population perceived their WASH behavior/practices and how can WASH principles help to reduce the incidence of WASH related health complications in the study area, a null hypothesis of no relationship between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) behaviors/ practices and the incidence of water and sanitation related health complications in the health status of the studied population was formulated to guide the study. Using stage-wise sampling technique, a sample of 638 respondents were sampled from among farmers, traders, artisans, civil servants, CBO/NGO/CSO staff and others. Four instruments were used for data collection, focus group discussion, key informant interview, transect walk and structured questionnaire. Simple percentage and Spearman rho correlation analysis was used for analyzing data generated from the field. The result of the analysis shows that the people have a negative perception of the WASH behavior and practices and its health implication. The Spearman rho correlation analysis shows a correlation value of 0.91 at a 0.05 significance level under 637 degree of freedom. The result shows a very positive correlation between WASH behavior/practices and incidence of WASH related health complications among the studied population. The implication therefore is that negative or poor WASH behaviors/practice increases the incidences of WASH related health complications while positive WASH behaviors/practices reduces WASH related health complications in the rural areas under study. It is recommended that community members should carry out self help construction of improved pit latrine through the use of locally available materials, and awareness creation should further be carried out to create the needed awareness on WASH principles.

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