Abstract

PIP: An effective environmental sanitation program should encompass key features considered necessary for a primary health care (PHC) program such as availability, accessibility, affordability, acceptability, and practicability. Poor housing conditions give rise to stress, delinquency, and crime, as well as to helminthic and other parasitic infestations. In Africa, urbanization has accelerated since the 1950s because of rural-urban migration. In Nigeria new housing construction has been poor, with inadequate provision of physical facilities and community services in residential areas. Overcrowding is rampant, with occupancy rates of 2-3 persons per room recorded for many cities including Owerri, Abba, Warri and Ontisha. In a survey of rooming-house facilities in Lagos, the average was 5-7 persons per room. 47% of households were living in just one rooms in Sokoto and 80% in the Lagos metropolitan area. An urban household survey by the Federal Office of Statistics found that 45% of households were without electricity. Similarly, 46% of households were found to be without running water, 29% obtained their water from wells, and 14% from streams. The inadequate provision of toilets poses major health risks. Many Nigerian cities lack efficient waste disposal systems: in Ibadan mounds of uncollected rubbish obstruct the roads. According to a Statistics Office survey 48% of refuse is estimated to be dumped illegally, while 23% is simply heaped in family compounds. A recently launched campaign on environmental sanitation is the start of improving the health of urban dwellers which could cut expenditure on curative health measures.