Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Regarding Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for People Living with HIV/AIDS

• Source:

• Beyene, H & Hailu, D. 2013. Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development Vol 3 No 1, pp 81–85.

• URL:

• http://www.iwaponline.com/washdev/003/washdev0030081.htm

• Countries:

• Ethiopia

• Summary:

• A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the water, sanitation, and hygiene status and the knowledge, attitude and practice of home-based care clients of People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) regarding water, sanitation and hygiene (WSH). Interviews and observation of WSH facilities were carried out on 331 randomly selected PLWHA in Hawassa City, Southern Ethiopia. Though the latrine coverage was high, 43% use latrines not easily accessible, 31% use contaminated latrines and 73.4% of the latrines lacked hand-washing facilities. Thirty-four per cent did not have a reliable source of water and 196 (59%) of the households stored water at home for more than one day. Women were more likely to practice personal hygiene as compared to their men counterparts. Although a good level of knowledge and favourable attitudes about WSH related health problems were observed, two-thirds of the participants believed that diarrhoeal infection is not preventable. HIV/AIDS and WSH programmes need to be integrated for better intervention activities in Ethiopia.