Situation of Water, Hygiene and Sanitation in a Peri-Urban Area in Benin, West Africa: The Case of Sèmè-Podji

• Published in: Journal of environmental protection (Irvine, Calif.) Vol. 5; no. 12; pp. 1277 - 1283
• Main Authors: Johnson, Roch Christian, Segla, Hadehou, Dougnon, Tamègnon Victorien, Boni, Gratien, Bankole, Honoré Sourou, Houssou, Christophe, Boko, Michel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.09.2014
• Subjects: Benin; Africa
• ISSN: 2152-2197; 2152-2219
• DOI: 10.4236/jep.2014.512121

This study aimed to analyze the environmental factors related to health vulnerability in the municipality of Seme-Podji. For this study, 216 households were surveyed using questionnaires. Twelve key informants were enrolled for depth interviews and 18 water samples were collected from different sources used by the populations. It came out of our investigations that water from traditional sources used at Seme-Podji was contaminated by various microorganisms such as Escherichia coli and fecal coliforms. 66.38% of households reject domestic waste and 47.41% of them evacuate sewage in the yard. In addition, 93.05% drop stagnant water for natural infiltration. This municipality faces lack of sanitation. The main health problems experienced by people were malaria (46.35%), diarrheal diseases (15.88%). The study stated some results which could improve the help about health management in the area.