Impact of Proper Excreta Disposal 0n the Heath Status of Children below Five Years of Age in Salale Community
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Date
1986-09
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
A large-scale multi-disciplinary campaign which aimed at
improving the agricultural, educational and health conditions of
the general population of Sellale awraja was conducted in J'flL'.y 1981 ,
duri ng which , IVfuketuri , the present study ~-xeR9 ,.,as alleged to
have achieved the maximum results by provi dine; jli t latrine facility
to sa.ch and every household residing i n the to'ND .
An evaluative study on the imrc.ct of proper hum[].n '"Rste
disposal on the real th status of children belm, 5 years of age
was conducted from July 14 - 21, 1986, which is five years
"fter the mass introduction of "it latrines as an intervention
into Hu.1(eturi t m·n1. Assessment \-:as also made on how residents of
the tOlffi have former! the habi t of using the f",cili ty after it ""8
made available for them.
Because of lack of basE line dat:l, a similar community
unaffected by the 1981 car.Jpo.ign, but cOClp"rable in respect to
pertinent socio- demogr arhic characterstics, "'as chosen c.s a
control .
Intestinal pexasitism, diexrheal illnesses, o.nthropometric
measurements, infant and child rteaths werG chosen to me~sure health
improvements that mi,;ht have resul tect from the interver:tion.
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Weie;ht anj hei~ht, mea.surin[ scq12s £',nri stool examinr:.tion were
the instruments used, for tbe ohserv"til'nal '~ata coll ection >!hile
a pre- tested am] pr8- strl1ctured qU8stionnaire ,ras employed f or
intcrvi e>!ing head of house holds ".lld/or mothers .
Analysis of data collecteil from " total of 19G subjects and
85 controls living in 132 & 65 f'lmilies resrectively, h2.S sho>!n
that pit - l a trine facility avaibbility ,;as 81. S ~~ for the
study group ;mel 42 . 1, ~b for the C'ontrols . In the attempt to
determi ne the people's motive to h'LVe a latrine f Ctcil ity, it >!as
found that morE. t'l2.ll 60 5~ of f","ilics in Nuketuri re;oorted thp;t the
f aciE ties >!ere imposed by the ICebele , "hile s81f- ini' i a tion .1\nd
advice from helll th wor:<ers werG reporte ,~ in 24 . 3 ;{ and 15. 0 ~~
respectively .
All availa ble pits '.-Jere found to be utiliZEd , but about 25 %
were deficient from a sanitary ~ndhygi 8ni c utilization point of view .
No significant ilifference was observed on utilization behavior of the
two communities .
or all socioeconumic vari '!bl~s of families, income t.,ras fe-und
to be signigicantly ( P < 0 . 01 ) related to both avaibbili ty and
utilization of the pit latri ne facility, while education of the
head of the house hold "as found related t o availability only.
Utilization "as also seen to be increased among self- initiated
la trine owners, compared to those who O'ill thE; facility through
Kebele imposition or through health >!orkers' advice .
viii
Study results denHJllstr:LteJ 3Jl ,- VOl' ~.ll h"".l til i mp0roveffient
aGlont; the stujy Gre-up th,m their oontrols . !'revalence of intestinal
Tarasites W,'lU 32 . 2 ~~ an'j 56 . [ c;.~ ~ p" 0 . 01 ) 2.!Jong children sturlie ... t
in l'Iuketuri :md Chancho respectivly. l';ultiple intestinal pD.r?sitism
among th€ rosi ti ves, IrJ1.G n1so higher in the controls tha..n i n
subjects, 32 . 6 10 VS . 5.4 %.
An D.lysis of anthropometric measurements using Wahrlow ' s cl:J.ss i~
ficaticn , revealed that protsin - 03nergy malnutriti on was COEUllc,n
among both groups of children . However, co~~.~iS0~ between th~
two ~..roups show a r:1cro improved con,2i tion M10W; the sturly Sll~ j jects
than th,,; controls .
The two- weeks recall period rrev::112nce of chilCl di'_LrrhG3. \.J~S
3.1so found tobe higher amonG ths controls , 15 .3 . Vs 11 . 7 '7~ •
But the difference \ons not statistic ~,lly signific:1nt .
Resul ts in genera.1 indic-'lte th2..t provis i on of 8Y.:cret::t dispos~d
faci1i ty m'w redUCE the IJreV?J.ence of intestin'1l pCLr2.si tic infections,
di :lrrheal diseases and 1!alnutr.i tion C'Lnd m,w resul t in e;Ener"l h""l th
improvement of children beloH 5 years of age . Availability of latrine
in a family , hOHever, m?y not prctoct children i ndi vidualJ.y , unless
the overall contamination of the environment of the c08munity i E
prevented .
The less - effective inputs by health "orkers alone and the
i mportance of I!lultisectoral approach is 'J.180 discussed
Description
Keywords
Disposal 0n the Heath Status