Availability and adequacy of WASH facilities in secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria

The curtailment of infectious diseases is facilitated through observance of good hand hygiene, a habit which tends to be low less observed in developing countries. This paper investigated the level of availability and adequacy of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) materials in secondary schools in Lagos State, Nigeria. The sample size is made up of 620 respondents, selected through a combination of purposive, stratified, and simple random sampling methods. Research instruments adopted included questionnaires, focus group discussion guide, document observation, and unobtrusive observation. Quantitative data were analyzed through the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study showed that the majority of the respondents (87.4%) admitted that the most typical type of toilet facility is a water closet, followed by pit latrine (13.7%) and open space (1.6%) for defecation. A majority of the respondents considered the provision of a wash hand basin as grossly inadequate. Therefore, researchers recommended improvement of structures, facilities, and materials relating to WASH in schools across Lagos State, Nigeria