HEALTH CONSEQUENCES OF POOR ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION

CHAPTER ONE

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

It is believed that God created man in his own image to be in control of the environment and make the best out of it as recorded in the bible (Gen 1 vs. 26-31). But man in his search for daily bread, quest for knowledge and material wealth, has turned round to pollute the beautiful environment. From the earliest times man has been striving to control the environment. But as said earlier, man owns the health and life. That is why he found himself from the dragon headed problems he has caused himself in recent times. Environmental sanitation has become a topical subject at international, national, state and local spheres. This is aimed at initiating action to arrest the fast deteriorating environmental health status worldwide (Strauss,2000).

 In Nigeria today, the congestion of people in urban area which is mainly as a result of rural-urban migration, the concentration of industrial establishment and shares, increase in pollution have made the control of the environment imperative and equally challenging. To improve the general environmental sanitation of the major towns in Nigeria has always constituted a big problem to both individual and government with the result that the towns/cities are being strangulated by things generated by the inhabitants. The result of this condition is environmental pollution in its entire ramification. The problems of pollution have also found its way into the political area and every community in every state has been confronting difficulties of his environment. The problem of sanitation and hygienic behaviour among the majority of Nigerians are so serious that the Federal Military Government had to come-in to check the situation towards achieving “health for all by 2000 and beyond” as declared by the World Health Organization (WHO,1977).

Several strategies were mapped out and adopted by the federal government (the military regime in 1984 to achieve this objective) consequently; the environmental sanitation programmes were mounted throughout the federation. This was followed by the establishment of the “tax force on environmental sanitation” at both state and local levels to coordinate this elaborate programme, the importance of sanitation to any community cannot be over emphasized. It is a way of controlling diseases and disposal of refuse in a proper way. Government and individuals on their own have tried to improve the system of environmental sanitation but this has given them a lot of problems to contend with.

In fact, the cities are always being filled up with filthy materials while the rubbish and the garbage in the dust bin are not cleared on time. This makes the environment unpleasant to the people who live in those areas caught in web. There are poor storage facilities, inefficient collection and removal from our home and the society to the refuse depot. This has resulted in various health hazards such as: air pollution, water pollution and land pollution.

The major towns of Ijebu North Local Government are:, Ago-iwoye, Oru, Awa, Ilaporu, Ijebu-Igbo which is the Head Quarter. The trend or patterns of environmental sanitation in the major towns of Ijebu North Local Government Area are as follows:

a)     Thursday Environmental Sanitation: It is known as market sanitation. During this sanitation exercise, the health officers walk around the market environment to make sure that the market men/women clean their environment. They also ensure that their environment is free from health hazards.

b)    Monthly Environmental Sanitation: This is carried out on last Saturday of every month in all Nigerian states. It commences from 7am-10am. During this period, the health officer also walk round the street to supervise the exercise and ensure the package of the refuse gathered by the people to the appropriate quarters and to make sure the environment is clean. The health officers also sanction those who fails to participate in the environmental exercise.

In Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, there are Health Area Offices located at Ijebu-Igbo, the back of  Ebumawe palace in Ago Iwoye, Oru, Ilaporu and Awa. There is also a routine of House-to-house Inspection and this is done in the whole of Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State everyday by the health Inspection officers. House-to-house Inspection is carried out in order to correct those who needs to be corrected and to sanction those who needs to be sanctioned due to their nonchalant attitude towards save and sound environment.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Inadequate environmental sanitation results in morbidity which may later lead to death. It is important for an individual to live in a healthful environment so as to have maximum enjoyment of life. The sanitation condition of environment has become an issue of serious concern to Nigerians, especially with the migration of people from rural to urban centers. It should be noted that poor or dirty environment has adverse effect on our health which has nothing to do with age or status.

In fact, the problem of poor environmental sanitation and unhygienic behaviour among the majority of Nigerians have persisted despite the various sanctions or stringet measures taken by government and other health agencies to enforce a change of attitude among the people. It is important to note too that all the while emphasis has been on the mass rural population or communities that contributes significantly to the urban populace. Then, this stands the reason to assert that the individual home orientation would also be unconsciously exhibited in a new environment. The neglect of the sanitation crusade at the grass root level has made the sanitation effort in most of our towns and cities passive. Poor environmental exercise leads to different diseases which may be communicable or non communicable such as: cholera, tuberculosis, diarrhoea, poliominitis, helminthiasis, malaria etc (OMS,1985). Diseases peculiar to Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun state which is the area of study are Lasa fever, malaria, diarrhea (Direct Observation,2011 till date). The major cause of the above listed diseases in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State is poor environmental sanitation and personal hygiene.

1.4 Research Questions

1.     Will Lasa fever be one of the health consequences of poor environmental sanitation in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State?

2.     Will inadequate environmental sanitation promotes the occurrence of communicable diseases Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State?

3.     Is there adequate refuse disposal equipment Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State?

4.     Will good environmental sanitation leads to a healthy life?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses will be tested:

1. Adequate environmental sanitation may not significantly lead to reduction of the diseases.

2. Adequate environmental sanitation may not significantly lead to reduction of malaria.

3. Personal health may not significantly lead to typhoid fever reduction.

4. Adequate environmental sanitation may not significantly lead to the reduction of diarrhea disease.

5. Adequate environmental sanitation may not significantly lead to the reduction of Lasa fever.

6. Personal hygiene may not significantly lead to dysentery reduction.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study shall investigate various health consequences of poor environmental sanitation exercise in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State and the individual’s understanding towards this exercise. The study shall also reveal to the people, the consequences of poor environmental sanitation exercise.

 Finally, this study shall also serve as a useful material for the government, health educator, and public health workers on resolving the causes of poor sanitary condition.

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

The study would be delimited to:

1.     The male and female who live in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun state.

2.     The use of self structured questionnaire as instrument for data collection

3.     The use of descriptive research design

4.     The use of frequency percentage counts to analyze the demographic data and the inferential statistic of Chi-square (X2) to determine the acceptance and non-acceptance.

1.8 Limitation of the Study

The limitations that the researcher might experience in the quest of finding the truth in this study are as follows:

The responses that would be provided by the people to some of the questionnaire form may be incompletely filled. Efforts would be made by the researcher in guiding respondents to fill the questionnaire appropriately. Other limitations in the course of this study would be adequately taken care of by the researcher.

1.9 Operational Definition of Terms.

1.     Environmental sanitation-The control of all those factors in man’s environment which may exert a negative effect on his physical development, health and survival.

2.     Poor Environment: Unhygienic Environment or Unclean Environment.

3.     Health consequences: impact of unhygienic environment on people’s wellbeing