Abstract:
In spite of many decades of development planning and assistance,
Ghana still has low sanitation coverage. This study therefore assessed the
urban-rural variation in sanitation service delivery in the New Juabeng
Municipality. Descriptive study design was adopted, using a mixed method
approach to select two communities (Koforidua and Akwadum) to represent
urban and rural communities respectively. Systematic and purposive sampling
methods were adopted to select respondents for the study. These included 377
household heads, staff from the Municipal Environment Health Unit and other
opinion leaders. The results showed that though sanitation coverage was
generally low within the Municipality, there was a huge sanitation gap
between urban and rural communities. The sanitation coverage for the urban
communities was 15.1 and 2.5 percent for the rural areas. It also came out that
implementation of sanitation projects was driven by low budgetary allocation
to the sector and inadequate data for planning and implementation.
Consequently, most people in the municipality preferred to have their own
improved pit latrines and were willing to pay for improved sanitation facilities
or services.
It is recommended that the Municipal Assembly should increase
investment in sanitation and embark on enhanced social marketing for
sanitation. Additionally, there should be general public education and
sensitization on the importance of good hygiene including the use of improved
sanitation facilities among rural households for improved health status.
