WATER, SANITATION AND CHlLD DIARRHEA OUTCOMES IN NORTHERN REGION

Abstract

According to the World Health Organization (2012), each child in Ghana experiences an average of five episodes of diarrhea per year resulting in about 8,000 annual deaths, and 17 percent of children under five were found to have diarrhea two weeks prior to the 2014 Ghana Demographic Health Survey. This study examined the relationship between access to water, sanitation and child diarrhea outcomes in Northern Region of which three urban areas (Zogbeli, Kukuo and Tishegu) and three rural areas (Kpanvo, Kotingli, and Bagliga) were purposively selected. Focus Group Discussions were held in each community to collect primary data. The GDHS(2014) data constituted secondary data for the study. Systematic sampling was used in selecting respondents.292 cases were analyzed in the secondary data and 100 mothers for the FGDs . The study revealed that children under age five living in households with an unimproved toilet; open pit, bucket, hanging toilet, pit latrine without a slab, or with no facility are significantly more likely to have episodes of diarrhea than others with an improved toilet facility. Unimproved toilet facilities are routes for infection and germs that affects children. Difference in child diarrhea incidence in Northern Region could not be attributed to sources of water, most households with no access to improved toilet facilities recorded high diarrhea cases. Insanitary child stool disposal was associated with increased diarrhea prevalence in the Region. The study recommends that MMDAs should ensure that before a person is given permit to build a house, the house plan should include a toilet facility.