Assessment of the Latrine Facilities and the Health Condition in IDP Camps in Borno State
H. Mshelbara Asabe
Department of Building, Faculty of Environmental Design, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Stanley Mahya
Department of Building, Faculty of Environmental Design, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
I. Nkeleme Emmanuel *
Department of Building, Federal University of Technology Owerri , Nigeria.
Muhammad Marafa Ribah
Department of Civil Engineering, lovely Professional University, India.
Adeyemo Adebisi Fatai
Department of Building, Federal University of Technology Owerri , Nigeria.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
There are over 2.1 million Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have been in camps and host communities due to the conflict between the Nigerian state armed group and non-state armed group. The provision of aides to reduce the suffering of these people, especially women and children have brought questions in terms of the adequacy and functionality of the latrine facilities in the IDP camps. This paper assesses the latrine facilities and their corresponding health implication in the selected official IDP camps in Borno State Nigeria. A well-structured questionnaire was employed and administered to various categories of the respondents in twelve(12) out of the sixteen (16) officials camps within the area of study to determine their perception of the latrine and the health impact was assessed. A total of 331questionnnaires were received well filled out of the 392 distributed giving a percentage response of 84.4%, and the data collected was analysed using SPSS version 19.0. the result revealed among others that: the major type of latrine in the camps is the ‘traditional pit latrine’. According to a larger percentage of the respondents, there are less than forty (40) latrines in the Camps. Also, it was discovered that the latrine is usually de-sludge but is done once in two months. This is against the standard requirement from the UNHCR and SPHERE standards. also, the most common illness experienced in the camp arranged in the order of severity is; ‘Diarrhea’ STDs; Fever, and Tuberculosis. Consequently, it is recommended that there should be strict compliance concerning the construction of latrines and toilet facilities. They should be constructed by the provision of standards like UNHCR and sphere, as this will help in reducing the tendency to spread diseases in the camp.
Keywords: Latrine facilities, health condition, IDP camps