The Prevalence of Environment Related Diseases in Peri-Urban Areas of Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Within the context of existing socio-physical and housing environmental conditions, this paper examines the prevalence of environment related communicable diseases in eighteen peri-urban communities in Ogbomoso,Nigeria. The study combined a social survey of residents perception and six months hospital records of clinically diagnosed diseases to examine the incidence, prevalence, gender and spatial dimensions of four majorcommunicable diseases for which secondary data was available –malaria, typhoid, cholera and diarhoea. The study revealed a general lack of basic infrastructural facilities and services. While houses were mainly of thebungalow type (72%) and owner occupied (63.5%), accessibility to houses was generally poor. A significant proportion of the houses (26.5%) had no toilet while, about 99 per cent of the respondents did not have accessto pipe-borne water with 80 percent using nearby vacant land as refuse dump. The most prevalent diseases were malaria (53.5%) and typhoid (42.2%). The only cases of Cholera (2.2%) and diarhoea (2.2%), were recorded in Abaa community in Surulere Local Government Area. In all cases, Females were more vulnerable to malaria and typhoid (56.2% and 61.2%) than their male counterparts. Preparation of layout plans and close monitoring of development at the periurban areas and urgent provision of basic facilities and services are suggested