Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health Status of Ekosodin Community Residents, Benin City

: Healthy living has been known to be linked to availability of portable water supply, clean sanitation, access to good hygienic and attainment of nice healthy status. Hence, the objective of this study was to evaluate the assess level of water supply sanitation, hygiene and health status of residents of Ekosodin community, Edo State using a structured questionnaire from 300 respondents analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 22. Findings showed that residents of the community primarily relied on boreholes as their main water source, with 72.7 % of respondents indicating its usage. The sanitation facilities, such as toilets, were predominantly available, but there was a need for additional facilities, as indicated by 24.7 % of respondents. In terms of hand hygiene, 67.3 % of participants reported the availability of soap and water in their premises. Moreover, 82.7 % of respondents stated that they had separate containers for bathing and storing drinking water, contributing to improved hygiene practices. Health status’ findings revealed the prevalence of vomiting (66.7 %) among participants. Hospital/clinic facilities were the primary choice for medical treatment (74.7%), followed by herbal preparations (25.3%). In conclusion, a community-based intervention program needs to be carried out to educate the populace of Ekosodin residence on maintenance of hand washing practices, toilets and sanitary facilities

Improving public access to sanitation services in a rapidly urbanizing world is an increasingly important, yet challenging issue for governments, international development agencies, urban planners, and sanitation practitioners (Mara et al., 2010).Several efforts have been made to provide the global population with sustainable access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation (Ohwo and Agusomu, 2018).Report from the Water Project (2016) has shown that inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) account for a large percentage of global population's illness and mortality, especially in developing countries.Sanitation is defined as a system that promotes proper disposal of human and animal waste for improving and protecting public and environmental health.An improved sanitation facility is that which hygienically separates excreta from human contact, and is used by only members of one household: toilets flushing to sewer systems or septic tanks, ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines, pit latrines with a slab, and composting toilets (United Nations, 2010).However, about 32% of the global population, or about 2.4 billion people, do not have access to improved sanitation.Of these, about 1 billion people defecate in the open (Montgomery and Elimelech, 2007).In 2015, 62% of the population in the least developed countries relied on unimproved sanitation facilities (pit latrines without a slab, flush to pit latrines or to somewhere else, and bucket and hanging toilets), shared facilities, or defecation in the open (Adams et al., 2016).The improved standards made possible by sanitation and hygiene include, among others, better physical health, protection of the environment, better educational outcomes, convenience, time savings, assurance of lives lived with dignity, and equal treatment for both men and women (Benova et al., 2014;Imarhiagbe et al., 2023).Improved sanitation and hygiene are central to reducing poverty, promoting equality, and supporting socioeconomic development.According to Gaffan et al. (2022), in sub-Saharan Africa, approximately 700 million people of the population lacked access to improved sanitation.The negative impact of poor sanitation on human and environmental health has been widely acknowledged and includes exposure to acute excreta-related illness such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and hepatitis A, contamination of drinking water sources, environmental degradation, and contributes to malnutrition and poor school attendance in children (Wolf et al., 2018;Luby et al., 2018).Although the MDG target 7c does not provide a global indicator for hygiene, the data on the presence of a handwashing facility with soap and water are increasingly collected as part of nationally representative surveys and will form the basis for efforts to monitor target 6.2 of the SDGs (Freeman et al., 2014).Many benefits of hygiene and sanitation interventions are non-health in nature; including only health effects in impact evaluations can severely underestimate the intervention benefits (Loevensohn et al., 2015).Lack of sanitation leads to the transmission of pathogens through feces and, to a lesser extent, urine.Diseases transmitted by the fecal pathway include diarrheal disease, enteric infection, hepatitis A and E, poliomyelitis, helminths, trachoma, and adenoviruses (conjunctivitis) (Strickland, 2000).Most of these diseases are transmitted through the fecal-oral pathway, but some are transmitted through the fecal-skin pathway (for example, schistosomiasis) and the fecal-eye pathway (for example, trachoma) (Strickland, 2000).In Nigeria, children under 5 years old have a 38% higher risk of dying from lack of improved sanitation and water sources (Mehndiratta et al., 2014).This study evaluated the Water, Sanitation, Hygiene and Health status of Ekosodin community residents, Benin City, Edo state in Nigeria.

MATERIALS AND METHOD
Study area: Ekosodin community is positioned to the east of Isihor within the Ovia North-East Local Government Area (LGA) of Edo State, as indicated in Fig1.The Ovia North-East LGA, with its administrative center in Okada town, covers an expanse of 2,301 square kilometers (Akinbo and Okaka, 2010).It is situated within the coordinates of 5 o 451 to 6 o 151 east longitude and 5 o 151 to 6 o 451 north latitude, within the central province of Edo State.As of the 2006 census conducted by the National Population Commission, Ekosodin community was estimated to have a population of 7,000 people.This population has been projected to grow by 543.2% using a geometric method, reaching an estimated 45,000 people by the year 2022 (Ogeah and Ajalaye, 2011).

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The socio-demography of participants in this study as revealed in table 1, showed the sex distribution was 170 (56.7%) were female, while 130 (43.3%) were male, suggestive of the relative willingness of females to responding to survey interviews when compared to males.The age group of participants revealed a varied frequency in age categories as 18-20 years (16.7%),21-24 years (39.3%)25-30 years (29.3%),31-40 years (9.3%) and 41-50 years (5.3%); with the highest proportion occurring in aged 21-24 years which represents 39.3% of the total respondents.The participants' level of education suggest that the majority of respondents had tertiary level of education (85.3 %), while 14.7 % are secondary school certificate holders.Survey also showed 256 (85.3%) are single, while 44 (14.7%) are married indicating the respondents' marital status.2. The survey revealed that 72.7 % of respondents reported using boreholes as main source of water in their houses, while 27.3% relied on piped water.Furthermore, 94 % of participants had their main water source located within their premises, with 82.7 % confirming the availability of this source.The majority of the respondents (70 %) asserted using the water from their premises for washing and cooking only, while only 30 % used it for drinking, washing, and cooking.Sachet/bottle water was the preferred alternative drinking water source for 82 % of participants, and 90.7 % stated that they do not boil their water before its usage.Some residence (76.7 %) reported that their main water source had no taste, and 77.3 % mentioned it had no color; however, 55.3 % of the respondents had observed sand particles and visible impurities in their water source within the community, which defines the water not fit for human consumption (WHO, 2008).Findings also revealed that only 4.0 % of respondents had analyzed their water in the Laboratory to determine its physicochemical and microbiological qualities (WHO, 2008), with 63.19 % attributing their inability to analyze their water to be lack of knowledge and 36.81 % citing the high cost of water analysis as the reason for not doing so.According to earlier report of WHO and UNICEF (2015), 91 % of the world's population used drinking water from improved sources, 58 % used water from a piped connection in their dwelling, plot or yard and 33 % from other improved drinking water sources, leaving 663 million people lacking access to an improved source of water.Participants' responses to core sanitation questions (table 3) in the studied location show that the majority of participants (99.3 %) have access to usable toilets and contrary to the opinions of few (0.7 %).Also, overwhelming 99.3 % of respondents expressed satisfaction with the available toilets, and a mere 0.7 % requested that more toilets be constructed for their use.The survey data reveal that 34 % of the respondence have access to flush or pour-flush toilets connected to sewers, while the remaining 66 % have flush or pour-flush toilets connected to tanks or pits.Findings also revealed that an approximately 64.7 % of the respondents indicated that the toilets in the area are separated into male and female sections and 35.3 % stated otherwise.A significant majority (87.3 %) reported that female toilets have menstrual hygiene facilities, and 12.7 % indicated a lack of such facilities.The survey highlights that 95.3 % of participants stated that their toilets are frequently maintained, as against 4.7 % respondence who expressed dissatisfaction with the maintenance.A substantial 91.3 % of respondents confirmed the presence of functional drainage systems within the premises, and 8.7 % reported the absence of such systems.A respondence (82 %) stated that the drainage systems are maintained by the residence, and 18 % reported the involvement of a government agency.According to report of UN-Water (2021), the presence of a safe water supply and clean, functioning, private toilet facilities can enhance students' education and comfort, also females would have the facilities and knowledge to be able to manage their menstrual cycles in safety and dignity.The provision of these facilities in an institutional area will obviously enhance the girls' education, strengthens economies and reduces inequality (Orimoloye et al., 2015).A total of 67.3 % of responses to core hand hygiene questions (table 4) reported that soap and water were available in their premises, and 32.7 % reported a partial availability.Findings further revealed that participants (37.3 %) had soap and water within 5 meters from their toilets, and 62.7 % reported that soap and water were available but at a distance greater than 5 meters from the toilets.A significant majority, 76 % of respondents reported that they always washed their hands after using toilets and 24 % admitted to sometimes neglecting this important practice.Also, a total of 54 % of participants claimed that they always washed their hands before eating or cooking; contrary to 46 % reported that they sometimes skipped this essential hygiene step.It was also observed that 68 % of respondents used soap and water for handwashing and 32 % relied on water alone, which may not be as effective in removing contaminants.A significant number of the respondence (82.7 %) reported having separate containers for bathing and storing drinking water.However, 17.3 % did not maintain this separation, which could potentially affect water quality.All participants, 100%, responded that they don't always take bath, which may have varying implications for personal hygiene and health (Imarhiagbe and Eghomwanre, 2023).Also, findings from this study revealed a worrisome percentage of respondence (81.3 %) reported the presence of rodents in their houses, which is suggestive of a possible disease outbreak due to potential sanitation and hygiene challenges (Usifoh et al., 2018).Residents' responses to their health status as shown in table 5 revealed that the participants had experienced typhoid fever in the past, contrary to experiencing cholera infection.Findings showed no reported cases of dysentery and dehydration among the participants as at time of this survey.In contrast to the other health conditions outlined in this study, vomiting was reported by 200 participants (66.7 %), and of those who experienced vomiting, 100 participants (33.3 %)

Table 1 :
Socio-demographic of Participants from Ekosodin

Table 2 :
Participants' responses to core water questions in Ekosodin resident

Table 3 :
Participants' responses to core sanitation questions in Ekosodin resident

are centrally collected and openly burnt
According to the study ofArmah  et al. (2018), only 30 % and 47 % of populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia used improved sanitation facilities with about 13 % of the world's population living without any form of sanitation and practices open defecation.He also went further to state that people who are deprived of improved water and sanitation services do not get opportunities to realize their potentials in the professional arena.

Table 4 :
Participants' responses to core hand hygiene questions in Ekosodin residence