Abstract
Waterborne diseases have been a major health issue globally because of the burden it places on man. As a result of this, the present study therefore aimed at analysing the spatio-temporal pattern of waterborne diseases, using Kwara State as a case study. Primary and secondary data were obtained from questionnaire survey, Focus Group Discussions, interviews and published and unpublished works. Multi-stage sampling method was adopted in this study. Four stage sampling method was adopted in the selection of sample size. National Population Commission (1991) estimated that the mean household for each settlement in Kwara State (as at 1991 population census) was 4.7 for the selected settlements. In all, a total of 353 households were sampled across the three senatorial districts. Kwara South Senatorial district has the highest number of households of 127, while Kwara North and Central Senatorial districts have 118 and 108 respectively. Data from FGDs, in-depth interviews, questionnaire and other sources were subjected to test the stated hypotheses using t-test, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Correlation Analysis. Thus, t-test was used to establish the relationship in the mean sex perception of waterborne diseases in the study area. With tcal =
3.6732 > t0.05, ¥ = 1.96 and 0.0341 < 0.05,there was a significant difference in the mean sex perception of waterborne diseases examined in the study area. Similarly, ANOVA was used
to establish the relationship in the mean perception of waterborne diseases among other socio-demographic variables such as age, income and educational qualification in the study area. The result showed that, there is a significant relationship between the examined waterborne diseases and socio-demographic variables in the study area, as fcal = 4.765 >
f0.05,(3,559) = 2.62 and 0.0356 < 0.05. Descriptive Statistics was equally used to determine the Perception on the Prevalence of the six waterborne diseases across the three senatorial
districts of the study area. The result showed that there is no difference in the prevalence and occurrence of waterborne diseases in Kwara state. Lastly, Correlation Analysis was also used to establish the relationship in the prevalence and occurrence of waterborne diseases in the senatorial districts of the study area. The result showed that in Kwara North, there is prevalence of waterborne diseases, than in Kwara South and Central. This trend may be associated to the level of self-help in Kwara South and availability of water infrastructure at Kwara Central, being the seat of government. The study concluded that, available potable water in the study is not adequate, and the few that are available are dysfunctional as the value of p-value of .008 < 0.05 level of significance at a correlation level of 0.530 at 22 df.. This may be closely related to the challenges of retardiness of socio-economic sector, which has led to inaccessibility to safe water . In the light of the above, the study recommended that prioritization of potable water, early tracking of waterborne diseases, efficient socio-economic programmes and relevant environmental education are necessary are imperative in curtailing the menace of waterborne diseases not only in the study area, but Nigeria as a whole.
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