BILHARZIA IN A SMALL IRRIGATION COMMUNITY - AN ASSESSMENT OF WATER AND TOILET USAGE

A questionnaire study was conducted in the Mushandike small scale irri gation schemes in Zimbabwe to investigate the following: 1) to establi sh whether field latrines me used or not; 2) to find out why people vi sit natural water bodies for bathing and laundry instead of using wate r from boreholes for these purposes; 3) to assess people's knowledge o n the transmission and control of schistosomiasis. Results of the stud y indicated that the field latrines are utilised and that the borehole water is not preferred for bathing and laundry because of its hardnes s and oily nature. The results further indicated that the community wa s aware of schistosomiasis but their knowledge on transmission and con trol of the disease was limited. Possible reasons for the observations made are discussed in the piper and recommendations emanating from th e study are stated.