The relationship between the level of household sanitation and child mortality: an examination of Ghanaian data
Penn collection
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
Ghana
mortality
morbidity
children
death
disease
infectious diseases
household conditions
hygiene
health
housing
water
toilets
sanitation
sanitation facilities
water facilities
household sanitation
diarrheal diseases
malaria
seasonality of mortality
developing countries
infant mortality
childhood mortality
maternal education
maternal literacy
education status
water source
Ghana Supplementary Enquiry
data
survey
schooling
educational attainment
water sanitation
death rates
deaths
causes of death
risk of death
births
infectious diseases
parasitic diseases
rural
urban
piped water
residence
place of birth
religion
employment status
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Contributor
Abstract
This paper examines the relationship between sanitation and the risk of child mortality in Ghana in 1971. In addition to using the presence or absence of toilet and water facilities in the home as an indicator of sanitation, combinations of the types of toilet or water facilities and the education of the mother are used. The results of the analysis show that although better facilities for example, piped water, water closets or private latrines) are often associated with lower child mortality, the advantages of better sanitation facilities are severely limited when mothers are not educated. Providing as little as one to six years of formal education results in considerable reductions in child mortality risks even among mothers using poor water and toilet facilities, and the combination of some education and adequate facilities appears to reduce substantially the risk of death.