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Housing:
The physical structure that man uses for shelter and the environs of that structure including all necessary services, facilities, equipments and devices needed & desired for the physical & mental health and social well-being of the family & the individual.
--- WHO Expert Group (1961)
Criteria of Healthful Housing:
An expert Committee of the WHO recommended the following criteria for healthful housing similar to the Basic Principles of Healthful Housing published by the American Public Health Association:
- Healthful housing provides physical protection and shelter;
- Provides adequately for cooking, eating, washing and excreta disposal;
- Is designed, constructed, maintained and used in a manner such as to prevent the spread of communicable diseases;
- Provides for protection from hazards of exposure to noise and pollution;
- Is free from unsafe physical arrangement due to construction or maintenance, and from toxic or harmful materials; and
- Encourages personal and community development, ecological principles, and by these mean promotes mental health.
Effect of Poor Housing:
- RESPIRATORY INFECTIONS: Common cold, tuberculosis, influenza, diphtheria, bronchitis, measles, whooping cough etc
- SKIN INFECTION: Scabies, ringworm, impetigo, leprosy.
- RAT INFESTATION: Plague.
- ARTHROPODS: Houseflies, Mosquitoes, fleas and bugs.
- ACCIDENTS: A substantial proportion of house accidents are caused by some defect in the home and its environment.
- MORBIDITY & MORTALITY: High morbidity & mortality rates are observed where housing conditions are sub-standard.
- PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECT: These effects must not be overlooked. The sense of isolation felt by persons living in the upper floors of high building is now well-known to have harmful effects. Often, also, people living in densely populated urban areas feel a similar sense of isolation which may lead to neurosis and behavioral disorders.
Overcrowding:
Overcrowding refers to the situation in which more people are living within a single dwelling that there is space for, so that movement is restricted, privacy secluded, hygiene impossible, rest and sleep difficult.
Sex Separation: Overcrowding is considered to exist if two persons over 9 years of age, not husband & wife, of opposite sexes are obliged to sleep to sleep in the same room.
The accepted standards with respect to over crowding are as below:
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Person Per Room
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Floor Space
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| 1 Room |
2 Persons |
110 sq. ft. or more |
2 Persons |
| 2 Rooms |
3 Persons |
90-100 sq. ft. |
1 ½ person (children between 1 – 10 yrs counted as half a unit) |
| 3 Rooms |
5 Persons |
| 4 Rooms |
7 Persons |
70-90 sq. ft. |
1 Person |
| 5 Rooms |
10 Persons (additional 2 for each further room) |
50-70 sq. ft. |
½ Person |
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