ENVIRONMENTAL SANITATION

Prof Joas B Rugemalila

Environmental Sanitation 1
Unplanned Settlement, Tegeta , Dar, Oct 2009

Environmental Sanitation 2
Open Drain in Arusha Municipality, Oct 2009

Environmental Sanitation 3
Informal Restaurant at Tegeta:
Physical & Social Environment

Environmental Sanitation 4
Environment Sanitation: U5 on Her Own

Environmental Sanitation 5
Environmental Sanitation: Milieu

Environmental Sanitation 6
Stone-works in a Residential Area, Bunju Unplanned
Settlement, Dar es Salaam, Sept 09

Environmental Sanitation 7
 Definitions
1. Environmental

Relating to physical and or social
surroundings (milieu)
2. Sanitation

Hygiene

Science and practices promoting
health and disease prevention

Environmental Sanitation 8
 Environmental Constituents

Biological: living things i e plants (flora),

animals (fauna) including micro-
organisms

Physical: non-living things i e air, water,
soil, sounds, chemicals, and climate

Social institutions: family, village, culture
(beliefs and practices), politics, economics
and government

Environmental Sanitation 9
 Environment and Health

Human health and survival depend on

1. Genetic or physiological adjustment

or adaptation to the environment eg

high altitude hyper-haemoglobinemia
2. Cultural coping mechanisms eg to

climate extremes by appropriate

clothing, housing, heating, air
conditioning, etc

Environmental Sanitation 10
 Environment and Health

Human health may be determined by
3. Man made environmental changes

i. Up-grading: promote health eg

draining stagnant waters to
remove mosquito breeding sites
ii. Degrading: eg gravel excavation
pits may introduce breeding
sites for snail intermediate hosts
for schistosome spp

Environmental Sanitation 11
 Environment and Health

Human health may be determined by
4. Inter-relationships between the
physical, biological and social
milieu; prompted by human needs
i. Hunger
ii. Thirst
iii. Recreation
iv. Sexual urge
v. Etc

Environmental Sanitation 12
Environmental Interactions and Health

Physical components determine
 Distribution of biological disease

agents: pathogens, vectors, hosts,

reservoirs

Social milieu facilitate
 Contacts between human pops and the

biological or chemical disease agents

Environmental Sanitation 13
 Environmental Effects on Health Illustrations
1. Protein Calorie Malnutrition (PCM) was
once rampant in Africa
 Children were denied consumption
of available eggs on the belief this
would cause sterility
 Promoting consumption of beans
was hindered by unavailability on
the market, local soil or weather did
not support cultivation of the crop

Environmental Sanitation 14
Environmental Effects on Health Illustrations

2. Severe diarrhoeal dehydration deaths occur

because behaviour change being multi-
factorial is difficult
 Child feeding from bottle and not cup;
ignorance: socio-economic environment
 Drinking water from open pond and not
protected well; socio-economic + biological
environment

Environmental Sanitation 15
Environmental Effects on Health Illustrations

3. Health Services Utilization

Poor attendances at RCH Clinic
 Venue under a mango tree without
privacy and exposing expecting
mothers to passing by men
 Staffed by an unmarried nurse with
whom according to custom matters
of pregnancy and childbirth could
not be discussed
Environmental Sanitation 16
 Environmental Sanitation Discussions
JB Rugemalila & C M Wambura

1. Disposal of Human Excreta

2. Disposal of Domestic, Industrial and
Medical Waste
3. Water Supplies
4. Food Hygiene
5. Occupational Health
6. Control of Disease Vectors, Hosts and
Reservoirs

Environmental Sanitation 17
 END

Environmental Sanitation 18