with the remaining using plastic (5; 5.1%), brass (12; 12.4%)
and earthenware (6; 6.2%). Eighty (82.2%) respondents did
not have any specific reason for choosing a particular con-tainer. Reasons for choosing a specific type of container
included taste (13; 13.4%) and temperature (2; 2.1%) of
water as well as affordability (2; 2.1%). All water storage
vessels were kept covered, and 100% of households used
drinking water by dipping into the wide-mouthed container
with a cup held in the hand.
3.2. Perception of water availability
A significantly greater proportion of individuals from
the Main village (38; 92.7%) than from the Harijan
colony (17; 30.4%) felt they received an adequate sup-ply of water (P<0.001). Water received was measured
in ‘kudams’ (wide-mouthed containers measuring approxi-mately 12 l). On average, an individual in the Main village
received a significantly larger volume of water per day
(mean 45.32±18.87 l), than in the Harijan colony (mean
26.74±12.99 l,P<0.001). Throughout the entire village,
any excess water remaining after the day’s use was poured
away the next day before fresh water was collected.
3.3. Microbial water treatment practices and
beliefs about water
Thirty-five (36.1%) individuals regarded bore well water as
‘clean’ whereas 21 (21.6%) regarded water that was clear in
appearance as ‘clean’ water. Data on microbial water treat-ment practices and beliefs about water are given inTable 1.
Treated drinking water was usually reserved for babies. The
techniques used to treat drinking water were filtering with a
cloth or sieve (16; 40%) boiling (14; 35%), both filtering and
boiling (6; 15%), and heating (4; 10%). During the focus group
discussion respondents stated that they treated water only
during bouts of illnesses and that they believed that there
was no need to purify water at other times.
3.4. Beliefs about diarrhoea
Beliefs about diarrhoea varied widely with 42 (43.3%) indi-viduals believing that food was the cause of diarrhoea. A
significant number — 28 (28.9%) — considered other factors
such as ‘heat’, ingesting hair or mud, and mosquito bites
as causes of diarrhoea, whereas 15 (15.5%) said that they
did not know the exact cause. Only 12 (12.4%) considered
water as a source of diarrhoea. A common practice during
an episode of diarrhoea was to self-medicate with a ‘yellow
tablet’ (a combination of tinidazole and ofloxacin) which
was freely available at the local provision store.
3.5. Toilet usage, beliefs and practices
Fifty-seven (31.8%) households interviewed in the general
questionnaire had functional toilets, all built by the owners
themselves. However, only 38 (67.9%) of those households
with toilets actually used them. In the focus groups, the
reasons given for not using toilets that were already built
were that it was contrary to their custom especially among
the elders of the village; there was also concern about the
smell and possible water stagnation during the rainy season.
The ownership and usage of toilets among those interviewed
in the individual questionnaire is presented inTable 2. Eigh-teen (60%) owning toilets belonged to the high SES category,
and 12 (40%) belonged to the middle and low SES categories.
Of the individuals using toilets, 17 (68%) belonged to the high
SES category and 8 (32%) to the middle and low SES cate-gories. There was no significant difference in ownership or
usage of toilets between the Main village and the Harijan
colony (Table 2).
The government had attempted to construct toilets
for every household; however, none had covered pits or
were connected to septic tanks and hence they were non-functional. One set of public latrines for women had been
built by the government but was seldom used because a
monthly fee had to be paid for its use and because it some-times lacked water. Even when used, it was for the purpose
of bathing and washing clothes, rarely for defecation.
3.6. Defecation, beliefs and practices
Seventy-two (74.2%) respondents to the individual ques-tionnaire defecated in open areas (Table 2). Predominantly
barren land and fields outside the village were used for this
purpose. Water from irrigation pumps was used for cleaning
after defecation. A significantly greater number of individ-uals (P<0.001) in the Main village preferred going alone for
defecation (Table 2). Children accompanied women on early
morning trips to the fields for defecation or defecated in a
public place in the village and the area was later cleaned by
their mothers.
In the focus groups, among the reasons stated for defe-cating in open areas were that it was an age-old custom
and tradition, did not carry any stigma, and it was unac-ceptable to accumulate human faecal matter close to their
dwelling, with respondents stating ‘why dirty the house,
when the weather outside is so fine?’, while some regarded
it as a social outing. Respondents also stated that they did
not posses the required financial resources to build toilets
and open field defecation eliminated the need to maintain
toilets. Some individuals believed that toilet construction
was very expensive. Participants from the Harijan colony
also mentioned the scarcity of water as a reason for not
constructing or using toilets. Most did not believe that there
was any association between open-air defecation and diar-rhoeal diseases. Some even felt it was a hygienic practice
because ‘the sun burns up faeces’. Others felt there might
be an association with disease, but felt their practices were
not harmful as they defecated far from residential areas.
Hand washing with soap after defecation varied widely
with age. When compared with people above the age of
60 years, a greater number of children (37.5% vs. 86.4%,
P=0.03) washed hands with soap after defecation and
before meals (Table 3).
Microbial water treatment, SES, stated causation of diar-rhoea, concept of safe water, and perception of adequate
water supply were included in a multiple logistic regression
model. After adjusting for these factors, only perception of
quantity of water received (P<0.001), stated causation of
diarrhoea (P=0.02) and low SES (P<0.001) remained signif-
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..