Research on people's knowledge and behavior about the risk of infectious diseases through household solid waste collection

Abstract

 Solid waste is one of the high risks of environmental pollution, in addition to the risk of transmitting infectious diseases such as Dengue fever, hand, foot and mouth disease, Covid-19, hepatitis B, C, HIV-AIDS. However, the issue of solid waste disposal has not been of concern to the people. The purpose of this research is to understand the awareness of the dangers of solid waste pollution and solid waste disposal behavior of households in Ho Chi Minh City. The methods used in the study include: Secondary method (Using reports and previous research results with the contents relating to the topic); surveying and collecting information at households with a prepared questionnaire; convenient sampling (210 households agreed to participate in the study). The study results show that 35.71% are unaware of the risk of contracting infectious diseases from household waste, such as dengue fever, respiratory diseases; 26.27% do not know about infectious diseases that require lifelong treatment such as hepatitis B, C, HIV; 62.38% do not know about cancer, congenital malformations of the fetus, related to household waste. This situation is very dangerous, because infectious diseases can break out into epidemics affecting health, economy, culture, and society. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen communication work, raise public awareness about the risk of infectious diseases from solid waste and have behaviors to classify and collect solid waste properly and in accordance with regulations.