ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION COMPONENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH WORKERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION COMPONENTS IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

This study set out to investigate the perception of environmental health workers on the implementation of components of environmental sanitation in Anambra State. The investigation was carried out using questionnaire survey research design. In line with the objectives of the study, eight research questions and two null hypotheses were formulated based on the selected eight components of environmental sanitation. The target population consisted of one hundred and eighty two environmental health workers in the employment of Anambra State Government. The entire one hundred and eighty-two environmental health workers were used as the sample for the study.  Questionnaire was the instrument used for data collection. Validity was ensured through critical examination by experts in Public Health. Reliability was established using test re-test method and correlation coefficient of 0.86 was attained. The means of the weighted scores of the questionnaire items of the selected eight components of environmental sanitation were used to answer the research questions. Decision rule was that any questionnaire item whose mean and grand mean respectively were below 2.50 indicated improper implementation, while any questionnaire item whose mean and grand mean were 2.50 and above indicated proper implementation. The t-test statistics was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The following were the major findings: Sanitary inspection of premises as well as solid waste management among others were not properly implemented as the mean of each item and grand mean of each of the components fell below 2.50. There was also no significant difference in the mean weighted scores of the male and female, urban and rural environmental health workers. The researcher inferred that the components have not been properly implemented in Anambra State. Necessary conclusions and recommendations were therefore made.