Quality investigation of sanitary latrine construction in countryside households in schistosomiasis endemic areas of China / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To assess the construction quality of sanitary latrines in schistosomiasis endemic areas of China. Methods Two counties per province were sampled randomly from total 7 provinces with schistosomiasis endemic including Hunan, Hu-bei, Jiangxi, Anhui, Jiangsu, Yunnan and Sichuan, then 2 villages with schistosomiasis endemic were selected from each target county as research sites, and 30 households per village were randomly selected as respondents. Results Among the sanitary latrines being constructed and on-going used in schistosomiasis endemic areas, 64.8% of them were built indoor or inside of yards, and 52.6% of the above household latrines were constructed keeping away from water sources beyond 10 meters. In addition, the latrines with curb height of feces outlet over 100 mm accounted for 75.0% , and 96.1% of the total sanitary latrines were equipped with urinals made of pottery, plastic and cement. There were 98.2% of the latrines with an area more than 1.2 m~2, and 95.8% with structure of the whole room. Among those sanitary latrines with three-case-cesspools, merely 23.1% reached or closed to the design and implementation requirements of Technical criterion of sanitary construction in schistosomiasis endemic areas (protocol) on the part of underground. Conclusions The sanitary latrine with three-case-cesspools and three-unit methane pool is the main type of the household latrine recommended in countryside in schistosomiasis endemic areas. The construction of sanitary latrines meet the requirements of relevant standards in general, however, the design and implementation of underground parts of the latrines with three-case-cesspools need to be improved.