Awareness, attitude and practice of traders in Ekeoha market, aba towards the spread of diseases through the nigerian currency

Abstract

Background:

Money is absolutely essential in the day to day transactions and in the process of these transactions money is passed from hand to hand, rendering it vulnerable to contamination with various pathogenic diseases and also conferring on it the potential to transmit diseases. Many people are not aware that diseases can be transmitted by the way we handle money. However, if money is handled hygienically and appropriately, it will obviously reduce disease burdens. Hence, this research conducted on traders in Ekeoha market, Aba.

Aim:

To assess the awareness, attitude and practice of traders in Ekeoha market towards the spread of diseases through the Nigerian currency.

Materials and Methods:

This was a cross-sectional descriptive study involving 393 traders of Ekeoha market, Aba. Data was obtained from traders in Ekeoha market using a interviewer-administered questionnaires and analyzed with IBM SPSS version 20.0.

Results:

The mean age of our respondents was 36.6±12.4 years, with majority falling within the age bracket 18-27 (27.7%) and 28-37(27.2%). There were 143(36.5%) females and 250 (63.6%) males. 344(87.5%) traders are aware that money passing from hand to hand gets contaminated. 318(80.9%) got this information through radio and television. 205(52.2%) moisten their fingers to count money, while 277(70.5%) wash their hands before eating after handling money. Age and marital status showed statistical significant association with awareness of the respondents (p=0.035 and p=0.002 respectively).

Conclusion:

Majority of traders in Ekeoha market were aware that money transmits diseases and washes their hands before eating after handling money. More enlightenment and awareness programs are advocated to educate traders on the proper handling of paper money to prevent its contamination.