AVAILABILITY OF TOILETS AND HAND WASH FACILITIES IN THE WA CAMPUS OF THE UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

Abstract

The study sought to assess the state of toilets and hand wash facilities on the Wa Campus of University for Development Studies (UDS) and the extent to which these facilities are being utilized by students. In this light, the mixed methods research design was used to collect data from about 380 respondents using questionnaire, interview schedule and focus group guide. On the basis of the analysis, the study found that in terms of availability of toilet facilities, only 19.0% (63) of the students thought the facilities were adequate, 61.0% (204) thought the facilities were somehow adequate while 20.0% (65) said the facilities were inadequate. Despite the availability of toilets, 10.0% of the students still practice open defecation while 21.7% of them urinate in the open. In terms of hand hygiene facilities, 64.8% (215) of the students had access to hand washing facilities whereas 35.2% (117) had no access to hand washing facilities. With regards to the use of hand washing materials, 2% (7) of respondents used soap for hand washing, 55% (184) of respondents reported that only water is always available at sanitary facilities while 43% (141) reported that both water and soup are always available at sanitary facilities for hand washing by users of the facilities. With regard to clean running water, while 85.5% (284) of the students said running water was available, 14.2% (48) did not have access to running water at all. Of those with access to running water, sources of the water included Ghana Water Company (53.0%), Mechanized bored holes (35.5%) and Tanker services (10.1%) but for those without access to running water, sources of water include non-mechanized borehole (42.6%), tanker service (36,2%), rain water (17.0%) and spring water (4.3%). Therefore concludes that even though there are water closets and other modern urinals and hand wash facilities available in halls of residency, lack of running water hamper their usage. Consequently, some students still resort to open defecation.