Sanitation Practices in the Precarious Neighborhoods of the City of Douala: Case of the Makepe Missoke Precarious Neighborhood

The issue of sanitation remains a topical issue in every society, particularly in cities. Sanitation practices are increasingly poor in Cameroon's major cities. It is in this context that our article on: "Sanitation practices in the precarious neighborhoods of the city of Douala: The case of the Makepe Missoke precarious neighborhood". Wastewater, household waste and excreta sanitation facilities are still poor in urban African environments and particularly in urban Cameroon, resulting in environmental contamination (air, soil, resources, etc.). These unhealthy sanitation practices are poorly controlled and generate numerous water-related and unsanitary diseases. It is in light of this observation that we focused our problem on sanitation in the Makepe Missoke precarious neighborhood. The objective is to take stock of sanitation practices and their effects on the environment and population health. We certainly relied on documents to approach this study. But the bulk of the work was done in the field, where direct observation, household surveys, health surveys, etc. were used to complete the research. It emerges from all our field investigations that the sanitation of wastewater, excreta and household waste is still precarious. 93.76% of the households surveyed evacuate excreta via latrines (latrines on stilts, barrel latrines, latrines with a lost bottom, etc.) most of which are basic. 6.24% of households use septic tanks. The precariousness of latrines is due to certain socio-economic factors such as the low financial means of the populations, the overcrowding of houses, etc. The situation is even more deplorable in the lowlands where barrel latrines predominate, discharging their contents directly into watercourses and gutters. Wastewater is dumped on the ground, in rivers, etc. Household waste is dumped in unauthorized places (guts, rivers, etc.). Water resources (well water, spring water, etc.), air, soil, etc. are contaminated by solid and liquid waste. The most common diseases (malaria, diarrhea, etc.) in health centers are linked to sanitation practices. We have proposed alternative responses to improve sanitation practices such as the development of construction routes, maintenance of gutters and channels, human investment sessions, etc. Despite the unhealthy nature of sanitation, some households have adopted good practices. Therefore, much remains to be done to ensure that populations in the study area benefit from effective sanitation. People must make their own efforts to improve their sanitation conditions. If nothing is done by the various stakeholders involved, sanitation-related diseases will persist and the local living environment will become increasingly degraded.