Drinking water and toilet sanitation of rural schools in Anhui during 2014-2018 / 中国学校卫生

ABSTRACT

Objective@#To understand current status of drinking water and toilet sanitation in rural schools of Anhui Province, and to provide basic knowledge for environmental sanitation improvement among rural schools in Anhui.@*Methods@#One primary school and one secondary school from each of the 5 villages from 24 counties in Anhui were selected during 2014-2018. Data was collected through information review, on-site inspections and interviews.@*Results@#School water supply methods were mainly based on local water supply from villages and towns, the rate was 58.16%, 58.95%, 65.07%, 62.78%, 67.69% from 2014 to 2018, respectively. Self-supplied water in some schools was initially untreated. The proportion of schools with sanitary toilets was 66.39%, 74.88%，76.26%，82.30%，94.20% during 2014 to 2018, respectively. The proportion of schools with toilets in the teaching building is lower than 30%. Proportions of schools with squatting toilets for girls was highest in 2017 (62.78%). The number of schools with no water faucets and no soap decreased by year, the lowest of 4.02% and 56.70% in 2018.@*Conclusion@#During the past five years, improvement has been observed in drinking water supply in rural schools in Anhui Province, however, the construction of toilets and surrounding environmental facilities still needs to be strengthened. The number of female toilet squats and the number of toilets in the teaching building and in the dormitory are relatively insufficient. While increasing the scale of toilet construction, it is also necessary to strengthen the quality of toilet management, and should pay attention to the relevant health education to teachers and students.