Assessment of sustainable sanitation and health issues in Nigeria: Trends on diarrheal, typhoid and soil transmitted helminth infection

Abstract

Access to safe and sustainable sanitation and hygiene is a critical precondition for providing a safe environment that supports socio-economic development, quality education, healthy development and prevention of disease. Based on the sustainable development goals, the United Nations plans to achieve access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and to these extents, sanitation is at the core of sustainable development. Achieving a disease-free generation will require the adoption and implementation of critical health policy reforms. However, countries with high disease burden resulting from poor sanitation often have low policy development, advocacy, and monitoring capacity. To create a sustainably friendly and safe environment, issues relating to inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene need to be addressed. This research examined residents’ environmental sanitation practices across different cities in Nigeria by means of questionnaires and interviews. The study revealed that respondents’ socio-economic characteristics varied significantly in different residential zones. Findings revealed that there is low level of access to environmental sanitation facilities across the residential zones. Similarly, the proportion of residents with environmental sanitation facilities in their homes was low. The study established poor environmental sanitation practices among residents in terms of accessing basic amenities across different cities. To involve households at all level, it was suggested to increase awareness about sustainable sanitation and its impact on health through media and by using various campaigns in schools and across the Nation, which will help strengthen community participation and implementation of policies that will promote sanitation, health and wellbeing of the population in accordance with Good health and wellbeing for sustainable development.