TITLE:
Cross-Sectional Study of Improved Sanitary Facilities’ Availability in an Urban Setting of Ghana
AUTHORS:
Anthony Mwinilanaa Tampah-Naah, Anthony N-Yelkabong
KEYWORDS:
Sanitary Facility, Housing Unit, Ghana
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.2 No.4,
April
17,
2015
ABSTRACT:
Background: The
availability of sanitary facilities to human populations is deemed a necessity
worldwide to promote healthy sanitation. In the Upper West Region, sanitation
remains one of the major development challenges of our time, and despite
growing attention and efforts by governments and donors, many approaches to
urban and rural sanitation are failing. The study was conducted to examine
environmental factors linked with sanitary facilities, and to assess socio-demographic
factors with the availability, type and location of sanitary facilities in
Mangu, a suburb of Wa Municipality, Ghana. Methods: A community-based
cross-sectional quantitative study design was applied. The study population was
made up of individuals of 18 years and abovein the community who had knowledge
about the sanitary conditions within their respective housing units. From this
population, 258 individuals were sampled for the study. Chisquare test for
independence was applied to discover if there were associations between the
study variables (sanitary facility accessibility and environmental characteristics
of houses). Results: Factors associated with the availability of sanitary
facilitiesin housing units were roofing material, building material, number of
rooms, and drinking water source. Conclusions: The findings from the study
indicate that a housing unit’s conditions can significantly influence the
availability of a sanitary facility in the community.