Community Knowledge and Practice on Sanitation, Hygiene and Household Water Utilization in Afabet City, Northern Red Sea Zone of Eritrea: Cross Sectional Study

Background: Water and sanitation entitles the human right to affordable access and sanitation. The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice on sanitation, hygiene and water utilization and to estimate the prevalence of diarrhea in Afabet city.Methods: It was a community-based descriptive cross-sectional type of study with a multistage cluster sampling technique. First, 12 clusters were selected from the city and 30 households were nominated from each cluster. Then, a total of 360 individuals were sampled and every family head was interviewed. A structured interviewer administered questionnaire and field observation was used for data collection from December 05-20, 2020. Cross tabulation and association of variables using chi-square test was determined and results were weighted as cluster sampling was used. Results: A total of 360 respondents were enrolled in the study with females (75.3%) and Muslin (99.0%) predominance. About 66.2% and 66.9% respondents were satisfied with the amount and quality of water they received respectively. The prevalence of diarrhea in the community in the last six months of 2020 was 13.0%. The investigators practically approved that 90.7% of the communities revealed functional toilets and feces were observed in only 5.7% of the living area of the community. The community’s comprehensive good knowledge and practice was 99.4% and 93.0% respectively. Their comprehensive knowledge and practice showed significant association with age, sex, marital status, level of education, household size and distance to municipality water source (p<0.001). Furthermore, their comprehensive knowledge and practice, prevalence of diarrhea, presence of latrine, distance from their home to municipality water source and hand washing practice were significantly associated with the administrative area of the study participants (p<0.001).Conclusion: The community had good level of knowledge and practice but the prevalence of diarrhea was relatively high. Latrines were highly utilized but the usage of soap, personal and food hygiene was slightly low. The level of comprehensive practice, prevalence of diarrhea, distance to municipality water source and hand washing practice was associated to the administrative areas. Enhancing environmental sanitation, personal hygiene and provision of adequate and clean water are highly recommended.