Public health implications of solid waste management in Akure, Nigeria
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Public health implications of solid waste management in Akure, Nigeria T. R. Jerumeh
. J. I. Igbinadolor . T. O. Akinbinu
Accepted: 14 September 2020 © Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Rapid urbanization has made solid waste management a major challenge in Nigeria. This problem is further exacerbated by the nation’s burgeoning population and unrestrained rural–urban migration. Poor management of solid wastes has important implications for public health and the environment. The study examines the impact of waste collection and disposal methods on the health status using primary data obtained from 174 households in Akure metropolis. Data analysis was carried out using descriptive statistics and Probit model. Results revealed that the major problems associated with indiscriminate waste disposal are groundwater contamination, unpleasant odour, uncontrolled dumping and risk to public health. The most prevalent diseases in the study area which were associated with poor environmental sanitation include measles (32.8%), diarrhoea (31.3%), malaria (20.2%) and typhoid fever (14.2%). The regression result shows that the use of waste management agencies and the amount paid for T. R. Jerumeh (&) Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, Nigeria e-mail: [email protected] J. I. Igbinadolor Department of Pharmacology and Traditional Medicine, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria T. O. Akinbinu Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
waste disposal are important determinants of public health. Based on the above findings, the study recommends increased public awareness on the need to employ the services of waste collection agencies to ensure proper waste disposal which in turn reduces the emergence and proliferation of communicable diseases. Keywords Public health · Diseases · Solid waste · Waste management
Introduction Following a recent report by World Bank (2019), about 2.01 billion tonnes of solid waste were generated in worlds’ cities in 2016 amounting to 0.74 kg of wastes produced per person per day. Looking forward, the report further revealed that global waste growth is expected to increase by 70% from its level in 2016 to 3.4 billion tonnes in 2050 with Asia and sub-Saharan Africa projected to account for the greatest percentage of the total waste generated. Accordingly, improving solid waste management should be a top policy concern particularly in low-income countries where according to Kaza et al. (2018), over 90% of their wastes is dumped openly and untreated. In Nigeria, for instance, there is a widespread but unflattering practice of unhealthy disposal of wastes in major cities. An overwhelming number of residents in most of the cities litter the
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roads with no civic concern (Sridhar and Hammed 2014). Solid wastes are not only stacked in large quantities in unauthorized dumping sites, but are also deposited in drainage systems, highways, by-ways and in various water-bodies. Unlike urban cit
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