Access to Safe Water - A way to Mitigating Onchocerciasis in Nigeria

Abstract

Onchocerciasis is a major cause of blindness in many African countries and Nigeria is not an exception.  The vector transmitting the disease abounds in fertile riverside areas. Attempts have been made in fighting the disease through control of the vector and use of drugs.  Search for preventive alternatives is the main objective of this paper.  The paper uses the 2008 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey data, a cross-sectional national data. The analysis is household based. This paper examines households that are likely to have incidence of Onchocerciasis.  Onchocerciasis has in the past greatly reduced the economic productivity and as such exacerbate poverty.  Chi-Square tests and T-tests were statistical tools used by the paper. The results show that there exists a regional variation in the incidence of Onchocerciasis across the country (?²= 925.71, p=0.000).  The paper also found that there is a significant difference in incidence of Onchocerciasis by wealth index (?²= 326.89, p=0.000).  Households with river as source of water are significantly more likely to have Onchocerciasis than those that river is not their source.  The situation is more precarious in the rural areas (?²= 250.09, p=0.000). Households with river as source are more likely to have more members with Onchocerciasis (t=11.79, p=0.000).  The provision of safe water to households especially in the rural areas is a sure alternative to mitigating onchocerciasis.

Keywords: Water, Onchocerciasis, River Blindness, Nigeria