Assessment of the environmental health knowledge, attitudes and practices in Ramallah and Al-Bireh District Palestine.

Al-Khatib, Issam A.

We assessed the knowledge, attitudes and practices of some aspects of environmental health among residents of Ramallah and Al-Bireh district, Palestine. We found that few residents had attended sessions of awareness in environmental health but 83.6% were willing to participate in such events to raise public awareness. Most residents (91.2%) were aware of the relationship between water and human health, but only 39.7% reported that they or their families cleaned their water tanks more than once a year. Only 76.3% of the respondents reported that they always washed their hands before eating and only 67.0% reported that they checked the safety of food before eating. Only 33.7% felt reassured when they ate in restaurants. This was due to lack of cleanliness of the restaurants, staff and utensils, and the uncertainty regarding the source of the food.

MIDDLE East; CONSUMER attitudes; ENVIRONMENTAL health; HAND washing; HEALTH behavior; HEALTH literacy

Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 2011, Vol 17, Issue 4, p323

1020-3397

Academic Journal

10.26719/2011.17.4.323