Analysis of Environmental Health Conditions in Obio-Akpo Local Government Area, Rivers State

Introduction: Environmental health encompasses the assessment and control of the environmental factors that can potentially affect health and is targeted towards preventing diseases and creating health-supportive environment. Although, the environmental health indicators are made up of intermediate and impact indicators; these indicators are most routinely used for monitoring the three most common environmental health problems faced in developing countries, which includes Malaria, ARI (Acute Respiratory Infection) and Diarrhoea. This study shows the interrelationship between environmental health condition and WASH diseases (Cholera, Typhoid fever, and Diarrheal).

Materials and Methods: A pre-test on analysis of Environmental Health condition in Obio-Akpo LGA, multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting a total of 50 respondent who were women, questionnaires were used to elicit data from the respondents and the data was analysed using descriptive statistics, prevalence and correlation.

Results: The women in the study area indicated their willingness to participate in the survey when compared to the men, with the women having 50(100%) and the men 0(0%) participation. It was common among the respondents that 37(74%) wash their hands with soap and water while others 13(26%) wash their hands at times with soap and water, and at times they just rinse their hands with water. The diseases related to WASH that occurred in the past 12months among the respondents were 6(12%) had Cholera, Diarrhoea occurred in 10(20%) of the respondents, Typhoid malaria occurred in 13(26%) of the respondents, also Skin Infection and COVID-19 were 1(2%) each. While 19(38%) of the respondents had none of the diseases related to WASH in the past 12 months. The type of toilet facilities had a negative relationship to the prevalence of diseases with a 0.01 level of significance.

Discussion: There was prevalence of WASH disease among the respondents and it was above average, it is recommended that the government and non-governmental organisations should provide water in homes and public spaces due to the strong correlation between hand washing and prevalence of diseases.