Study on Perception and Practice of Hygiene and impact on health in India

The central theme of the research paper is to assess the level of health awareness and hygienic practices and its health impacts in urban vis-à-vis rural areas in the five select states of Eastern India - Assam, Bihar and Jharkhand, Orissa & West Bengal. This study attempts to gauge the existing level of awareness on public health and hygiene issues and how it influences the hygiene practices in the community. The correlation of the same with the disease burden of a few selected water and sanitation related diseases are also examined. It is seen that there are some basic socio-economic factors like religion, education and level of economic status which play a pivotal role in conditioning the perception and practice of hygiene. Perception of the community on health and hygiene issues has a strong influence on practice of hygiene and both together along with provision of sanitation facilities have significant impact on reducing burden of communicable diseases like cholera, diarrhea, typhoid, hepatitis, etc.