Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in Rural Area of Goa: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a major challenge in developing nations and more among rural population. In India, Swachh Bharat Mission was launched with the objective to provide sanitation facilities and eliminate open defecation.

Objective: To assess the existing facilities and practices related to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene among household members in the rural population of Goa.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the field practice area of Rural Health and Training Centre, Mandur, Goa. Individuals aged ≥ 18 years were interviewed from 100 households by house to house visits using semi-structured questionnaire.

Results: Out of 100 households, 87 (87.0%) were having piped water supply into dwelling, 5 (5.0%) were using public tap and 8 (8.0%) were using water from well. Majority of the households, i.e., 94 (94.0%) were using sanitary latrine for defecation, 1 (1.0%) had community toilet and 5 (5.0%) were practicing open field defecation. Closed container was used by 89(89.0%) of the households for storing drinking water and 96 (96.0%) were using soap and water for hand washing.

Conclusion: This study revealed that overall water and sanitation practices among the study population were satisfactory. However, measures need to be taken to abolish some of the bad practices such as open defecation and drainage of waste water in the open which was seen in few participants.