Latrine coverage and associated factors among rural communities in Cambodia. Case study from the Kampong Chnang Province
Abstract
Despite its great importance in health and well being, sanitation has been for a long time at the bottom of the international development attention. Although the main risks associated with inadequate sanitation are related to health and health was being used in most interventions as a motivator for behavior change, various studies approved that people do not adapt toilets only because of preventing health risks but because of other motivations such as prestige, urban lifestyle, power relations, privacy, security or comfort.
The main aim of this paper is to explore sanitation situation, the history of sanitation interventions and factors influencing sanitation behavior and its adoption in rural areas of Cambodia. The research disclosed that latrine adoption and latrine use are deeply embedded in various determinants which intersect/intertwine with and create a number of complex interrelationships with poverty, local perception and practice, and physical environment.