A study to assess factors that influence the Adoption and sustained use of Sanitary facilities Makerere University.

Abstract

This report presents findings on the enablers and barriers to adoption and sustained use of sanitary facilities in Makerere University. The University as one of the oldest and prestigious universities in Africa has often had the media describe its sanitary facilities as wanting. Students continue to be appalled at the level of sanitation in the university and often opt to reside in hostels and rentals around campus instead of the halls of residence. The toilets in the colleges have not been described to be any better. The study involved about 651 respondents and 125 sanitary facilities in which observations were made in selected 7 halls of residence and 5 colleges. The average facility to user ratio was 1:26 and 1:10.05 in colleges and halls of residence respectively. In the study, it was found that sanitary facilities were provided in the halls and colleges as well as hand washing facilities. Most of these were functional and in good physical condition. However faulty flushing systems, water shortages, blockages of toilets and sinks, broken or missing taps were major challenges. The respondents preferred squatting to sitting toilets. These had a higher facility to user ratio compared to the sitting toilets. The female halls had less sanitary facilities and a lower facility to user ratio compared to those in male halls that served a much bigger population. Most of the respondents would rather not use the sanitary facilities for fear of falling sick as they were usually unclean. The sanitary facilities were easy to locate through the foul smell they emitted. Visible faecal matter and urine, water on the floors were a common sight in the sanitary facilities. Respondents preferred toilets in hostels and their homes compared to those in colleges and halls. Sanitary facilities were cleaned daily and cleaning equipment was mostly provided to the cleaners. Sanitary facilities in halls as they were cleaner and functioned more than those in colleges. CEDAT was reported to have the dirtiest toilets compared to the other colleges. The male halls were reported to have cleaner sanitary facilities compared to the female halls. Mary Stuart and Nsibirwa had the dirtiest sanitary facilities characterised by visible faecal matter while those in University hall and Livingstone were considered cleaner than those in other halls. With most of the shower heads missing the showers served as into high head taps and the bathtubs were dilapidated and in a sorry state. About 80% of the respondents had never received sanitation and hygiene education from the university. Soap and toilet paper were not provided. More halls require electricity fulltime in the sanitary facilities and in as those in colleges had better ventilation. Hall sanitary facilities were more reported to be used by the public than those in colleges. Over 74% of the respondents were dissatisfied with the level of sanitation and felt the university should do better. The inadequate number of sanitary facilities combined with the users’ lack of good sanitation and hygiene behaviors resulted in misuse of the facilities. It was reported that items like showerheads, cistern covers were often vandalised, taps broken, sanitation and hygiene material torn down. There were more barriers than enablers to achieving safely managed sanitation in Makerere University and the state of the sanitary facilities leave a lot to be desired.