scholarly journals Socio-Cultural Barriers of Safe Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in South Punjab Pakistan

2020 ◽  
Vol V (III) ◽  
pp. 109-117
Author(s):  
Hasan Ghaffoor ◽  
Muhammad Farooq ◽  
Sadaf Mahmood

Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is the basic right of every human being which directly influence health and social outcomes. Without adopting a project to its cultural settings, the project has very little or no chance for success or to be sustainable. The objective of the present study was to examine the socio-cultural barriers towards safe water, sanitation and hygiene practices in southern Punjab, Pakistan. It was a mixed method of research comprising qualitative and quantitative design. The qualitative data was collected through FGDs, and quantitative data was collected through an interview schedule. It was found that Cultural constraints like satisfaction and reliability towards traditional and myth-based norms are hampering the water, sanitation and hygiene practices. It is necessary to start comprehensive programs of WASH sector development with a special focus on social mobilization for the transformation of social norms along with resource allocation to improve WASH conditions/practices.

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 ◽  
pp. 1-5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Job Wasonga ◽  
Mark Okowa ◽  
Felix Kioli

Provision of safe water, adequate sanitation, and hygiene has been lauded as one way of preventing diarrheal infections and improving health especially in developing countries. However, lack of safe water, inadequate sanitation, and poor hygiene practices in most parts of rural Kenya have posed a challenge that exposes the populace to diarrhea cases and possible deaths. In this regard, many nongovernmental organizations and governmental agencies have tried to provide water, sanitation, and hygiene services with poor results. This study was conducted using qualitative research methods in Central Nyakach in Kisumu County, Kenya. The methods were focus group discussions (FGD), key informant interviews (KII), and observation of homesteads. The data were then analyzed thematically. Findings revealed that water issues are gendered and its use is socially and culturally categorized. Water storage is affected by traditions such as use of a clay pot, while sanitation and hygiene issues are ritualized and bound by taboos. Latrines are majorly constructed by men and sharing the same with in-laws and older children is prohibited. Children faeces are thrown out in the open fields as a means of disposal and hand washing with soap is nonexistent, since it is believed that doing so would make a person lose the ability to rear livestock. The implications of these findings are that some of these sociocultural practices have a profound effect on health of the population. This affects health care delivery through high incidence rates of disease, encourages “unhealthy” environments through open defecation and pollution, and negates the government’s commitment to national and international policies on universal health care provision.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 117863022199963
Author(s):  
Negasa Eshete Soboksa ◽  
Sirak Robele Gari ◽  
Abebe Beyene Hailu ◽  
Bezatu Mengistie Alemu

Background: Inadequate water supply, sanitation, hygiene practices, and diarrhea are related to malnutrition, but there is limited evidence in Ethiopia about their association. Thus, the objective of this study was to describe childhood malnutrition and the association with diarrhea, water supply, sanitation and hygiene practices. Methods: A case-control study design was performed from December 2018 to January 2019 in Kersa and Omo Nada districts of the Jimma Zone, Ethiopia. Both children aged 6 to 59 months were chosen randomly from malnourished and well-nourished children in 128 cases and 256 controls, respectively. Bodyweight, length/height, mid-upper arm circumference, and presence of edema of the children were measured according to the WHO references. Then, the nutritional status of the children was identified as a case or control using the cutoff points recommended by the WHO. To see the association-dependent and independent variables, logistic regression analysis was used. Results: A total of 378 children were included in this study (98.44%). Malnutrition was significantly increased among children who delayed breastfeeding initiation(AOR = 3.12; 95% CI: 1.62-6.00), had diarrhea (AOR = 9.22; 95% CI: 5.25-16.20), were living in households indexed as the poorest (AOR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.12-5.62), defecated in a pit latrine without slab/open pit (AOR = 2.49; 95% CI: 1.17-5.30), collecting drinking water from less than/equal to 1 km distance (AOR = 4.77; 95% CI: 1.01-22.71) and sometimes practiced hand washing at the critical times (AOR = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.16-5.74) compared with their counterparts. However, lactating during the survey (AOR = 0.35; 95% CI: 0.18-0.67), water collection from unprotected sources (AOR = 0.22; 95% CI: 0.05-0.95) and collection and disposal of under-5 children feces elsewhere (AOR = 0.06; 95% CI: 0.01-0.49) significantly reduced the likelihood of malnutrition. Conclusions: Early initiation of exclusive breastfeeding, diarrhea prevention, and the use of improved latrine and handwashing practices at critical times could be important variables to improve the nutritional status of children.


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel I. Sabogal ◽  
Elizabeth Medlin ◽  
Gonzalo Aquino ◽  
Richard J. Gelting

The American Red Cross and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborated on a sustainability evaluation of post-hurricane water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions in Central America. In 2006 and 2009, we revisited six study areas in rural El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua to assess sustainability of WASH interventions finalized in 2002, after 1998's Hurricane Mitch. We used surveys to collect data, calculate indicators and identify factors that influence sustainability. Regional sustainability indicator results showed there was a statistically significant decline in access to water. The presence of sanitation facilities had not changed since the beginning of the project; however, maintenance and use of latrines declined but continued to meet the goal of 75% use after 7 years. The hygiene indicator, hand washing, initially declined and then increased. Declines in water access were due to operational problems related to storm events and population changes. Sanitation facilities were still present and sometimes used even though they reached or surpassed their original design life. Changes in hygiene practices appeared related to ongoing hygiene promotion from outside organizations. These results provide useful input for making WASH programs more sustainable and informing future, more in-depth research into factors influencing sustainability.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 512-526
Author(s):  
Amour Seleman ◽  
Sara Gabrielsson ◽  
Tolly S. A. Mbwette ◽  
Richard Kimwaga

Abstract Desludging is considered a key step in urban sanitation improvement. Nevertheless, in most urban unplanned settlements, desludging is performed in an unhygienic manner, risking public health. This study used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods to analyse the underlying factors for unhygienic desludging in three urban unplanned settlements of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Factors for unhygienic desludging were analysed using logistic regression analysis and the Integrated Behavioural Model for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (IBM-WASH), respectively. It was found that 23.7% of the surveyed houses practised unhygienic desludging. Plot physical inaccessibility, outdated laws that stipulate low penalties and the lack of routine data were found to be key contextual factors. Furthermore, perceived inability to control unhygienic desludging among community members and the lack of feeling of shame among those performing unhygienic desludging are the key psycho-social factors. Technological factors contributing to continued practice of unhygienic desludging can be linked to the weakness in existing desludging technologies and general skepticism about the performance of manual desludging hand pumps. This paper concludes that unhygienic desludging in Dar es Salaam is likely to continue unless such factors are considered and integrated into the city's sanitation improvement plans.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (13) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês Ferreira ◽  
Ana Reynolds

Introduction: Postpartum hemorrhage remains one of the leading causes of maternal death globally. Oxytocin is the uterotonic agent of choice for the prophylaxis of this complication. However, its use in low-resource settings is associated with clinical, political, economic and cultural constraints. The goal of this article is to describe the use of oxytocin for postpartum hemorrhage prophylaxis in low-resource settings.Material and Methods: A literature review on the topic was carried out, and 24 articles were included.Results: The information was organized into seven sections: the evaluation of the efficacy of oxytocin compared to other uterotonics, the use of oxytocin in home births, the training of healthcare professionals, the quality of the available oxytocin, the new formulations, the risks associated with the use of uterotonic and the adopted health policies.Discussion: Despite the progress achieved widespread access to oxytocin for postpartum hemorrhage prophylaxis in low-resource settings is less than desirable. The main difficulties encountered were the shortage of skilled healthcare professionals for oxytocin administration, deficiencies concerning the quality of the drug and the inadequacy of available clinical guidelines.Conclusion: In order to reduce maternal mortality caused by postpartum hemorrhage in low-resource settings, it is essential to improve the knowledge of healthcare professionals, to implement good practices on the use of uterotonics, to optimize resource management and to overcome cultural barriers that prevent the demand for health services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 76-81
Author(s):  
Sarswoti Singh ◽  
Nil P Dhital ◽  
Rajan Paudel ◽  
Dipak K Sah ◽  
Arjun Hamal ◽  
...  

Introduction Childhood malnutrition is a critical public health concern in Nepal. Slums are supposed to have poor water, sanitation and hygiene practices. This study has aimed to examine association between water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) variables and stunting among 6 to 59 months children of slums of Kathmandu metropolitan city. MethodsDescriptive cross-sectional study design was employed where 335 households were included in the study. Data were collected using standard questionnaire and observation checklist. Weight and height of children were taken using seca digital weighing scale and wooden height board of UNICEF respectively. Anthropometric analysis was done using WHO Anthro version 3.2.2 software and other statistical analysis was conducted using SPSSversion 22 software. ResultsThe prevalence of stunting was 23%. Four out of five household (80%) in slum used to drink water from unimproved source. Absence of handwashing station (AOR=2.109, 95% CI:1.05-3.27) and absence of water storage covering (AOR=2.46, 95% CI: 1.16–5.23) were found to be significantly contributing to stunting status. ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of good WASH practices, and the potential of WASH interventions, to contribute for the improved childhood stunting living in urban slums in Nepal. Also, the findings recommend the need of strategies on purification of water, improvement of toilets, behaviour change and awareness related activities to improve the stunting among children.


2019 ◽  
pp. 203-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marzena Anna Maciulewicz

Newcomers and Locals. Invisible Boundaries Among Inhabitants of the Divided City in the BalkansResearch on divided cities in the Balkans focuses mostly on ethnic/national divisions. Is this perspective, however, truly viable and sufficient for the description of post-conflict cities in the Balkans? The question is posed not only because of the fact that every city is somehow divided or fragmented. More noteworthy, and not widely known, is the fact that the unstable structure of a city’s population is much more complex with its intergroup relations becoming much more complicated – a fact commonly disregarded due to the importance assigned to ethnic/national rifts which have dominated the narrative of the divided city. Underestimating the importance of other relations within society and the dynamics of a highly changeable social structure, one cannot uncover the actual nature of intergroup relations in a divided city.The main objective of this paper is to briefly present the state of contemporary inter- and intragroup relations in a divided city, with a special focus on inhabitants’ residential status. The article is based mainly on the case study of Mitrovica supplemented with references to other cities in the Balkans considered as divided. The paper is based on selected outcomes of qualitative and quantitative field research conducted in Mitrovica in 2017 and 2018 as well as results of other studies devoted mostly to Mitrovica but also to Mostar, Vukovar, Skopje and Sarajevo. Przybysze i miejscowi. Niewidoczne granice wśród mieszkańców podzielonego miasta na BałkanachBadania nad podzielonymi miastami na Bałkanach koncentrują się głównie na podziałach etnicznych/narodowych. Jednak, czy ta perspektywa jest odpowiednia i wystarczająca do opisania miast pokonfliktowych na Bałkanach? To pytanie nie wynika tylko z faktu, że każde miasto jest w jakiś sposób podzielone lub rozdrobnione. Bardziej istotny, a jednocześnie mniej znany jest fakt, że niestabilna struktura populacji tych miast jest znacznie bardziej złożona, a relacje międzygrupowe – znacznie bardziej skomplikowane, niż przedstawiają to dominujące narracje o podzielonych miastach przypisujące kluczowe znaczenie rozłamom etnicznym/narodowym. Tymczasem, nie doceniając znaczenia innego rodzaju relacji w społeczeństwie oraz dynamiki wysoce zmiennej struktury społecznej, nie można odkryć rzeczywistej natury relacji międzygrupowych w podzielonym mieście.Głównym celem artykułu jest przedstawienie współczesnego stanu między- i wewnątrzgrupowych relacji w podzielonym mieście, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem statusu mieszkańców Mitrowicy. Artykuł jest przede wszystkim studium przypadku miasta Mitrowica (Kosowo) uzupełnionym o odniesienia do innych podzielonych miast na Bałkanach. Artykuł opiera się na wybranych wynikach jakościowych i ilościowych badań terenowych przeprowadzonych w Mitrowicy w 2017 i 2018 roku, jak również na wynikach innych badań poświęconych głównie Mitrowicy, ale także Mostarowi, Vukovarowi, Skopje i Sarajewu.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alseny Bah ◽  
Alhassanel Diallo ◽  
Alhassane Bah ◽  
Feihu Li

Abstract Background: In Guinea, the incidence and prevalence of children in public primary schools to common disease, e.g., diarrhoeal, malaria, fever, etc. remained pretty high mainly because of the poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions and practices. We aimed to evaluate the impacts of WASH conditions in and out of school, health education programs, and the behavioral determinants of pupils on the incidence and prevalence of children. Methods: A questionnaire was designed to collect necessary information on current hygiene conditions of all the studied primary schools, the WASH practices in and out of schools, and the incidence and prevalence of these pupils. The data were collected via a survey of the pupils (n = 1048) from five public primary schools in the center of the city of N’Zerekore, Guinea between December 2018 and May 2019. Using a social survey (questionnaire survey), face-to-face interviews with the headmasters and the teachers of several selected schools, data collection was based on students' knowledge of hygiene practices associated with WASH, hand washing situations in and out of school.Results: It reveals that the WASH conditions in all five schools are inadequate. The water access and quality in four schools over all the five schools are greatly limited by the boreholes or unprotected dug wells. The scarcity of essential hygiene kits, especially in the latrines, disinclined the pupils to use the toilets in schools. The WASH and health educations are also invalid in all schools, and therefore the pupils were ineffectively influenced to change their unhealthy WASH behaviors. Our data indicated that 100% (n = 1048) of pupils don’t wash their hands with soap after defecation in school, and over 87.9% (n = 922) of students don’t wash hands before eating. All the above determinants result in a high incidence and prevalence of children among these pupils, including malaria, typhoid, diarrhea, etc.Conclusion: To improve the WASH conditions and to change the pupils’ unhealthy behaviors in the long term, some effective interventions including the provision of clean water and sanitation and hygiene infrastructure, as well as widespread and effective health education should be implemented.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Melariri ◽  
Liana Steenkamp ◽  
Margaret Williams ◽  
Chwayita Mtembu ◽  
Jessica Ronaasen ◽  
...  

Abstract Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) are vital indicators to healthy living and safe environments for child development. The aim of the study was to determine WASH status and practices in ECD centres located in low socio-economic areas of Nelson Mandela Bay during 2017. This cross-sectional study elicited responses from 46 ECD centres which had a total of 3,254 children and 172 caregivers. A structured questionnaire and visual observation were used. Using core WASH in schools' indicators (WinS) showed that despite improved water sources being available in 91% of the facilities, WinS for hygiene was poor. The study observed that 57% of the respondents had improved toilets accommodating both genders. In 29% of ECD centres, 6–10 children make use of a ‘pottie’ while in 9% of the cases, more than 20 children make use of one ‘pottie’. The use of the bucket system was noted in 22% of the ECD centres. In 79% of the ECD centres, children wash their hands in a communal plastic bowl. Only 11% of the study population washed hands hygienically under a running tap or tippy tap. WASH conditions in the ECD centres in the study area require urgent attention and further investigation for practical solutions. This article has been made Open Access thanks to the generous support of a global network of libraries as part of the Knowledge Unlatched Select initiative.


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