Factors Associated with the Recurrence of Waterborne Diseases in Children under Five in the Kemi Health Area, Lemba Health Zone, Kinshasa City

Introduction: Despite all the measures taken over the years, diarrhoeal diseases occur almost cyclically in certain parts of the country, including the provincial city of Kinshasa and especially the Lemba area. Because of its repeated exposure to the resurgence of diseases linked to poor hygiene practices such as diarrhoeal diseases, this area is a regular surveillance zone. The eradication of these diseases has so far been a major challenge because all the measures that have been taken have only served to mitigate them. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the resurgence of diarrhoeal diseases in the Lemba Health Zone and more particularly in the Kemi Health Area. Method: The study was carried out in the Kemi Health Area, in the Lemba Health Zone, located in the south of the provincial city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with heads of households whose sample size was 150, selected on the basis of the inclusion criteria. The survey method and the interview guided by semi-open questions were used to collect data from these heads of households. Results: After analysis, two factors were found to be associated with the increase in waterborne diseases in the Lemba health zone and more particularly in the Kemi health area: the level of education of the population (p = 0.004) and the type of water usually given to children under 5 years of age by their parents (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Thus, the most educated parents protect their children under 5 years of age against waterborne diseases better than the others, and children fed with untreated water or tap water contract more waterborne diseases than those whose parents give them bottled or canned water for example. Hence, a hygiene intervention programme should be designed to promote healthy behaviour to reduce the burden of diarrhoeal diseases among children.