The results of a cross - sectional descriptive study in 365 households in Thanh Luu commune, Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province by using the interview questionnaire combined with visual observation showed that: (1) There was the unity between the awareness and the practice in the construction of latrines: 27.4 percent of households did not know any kind of hygienic latrine, 6.3 percent of households did not know any harmful effect of unhygienic latrine, 25.6 percent of households knew full of four harmful effects of using unhygienic latrine, hence, the percentage of constructing unhygienic latrine in this commune was still 33.2 percent. (2) Similarly, 9.6 percent of households did not know the harm of using fresh manure and only 7.7 percent of households knew full of four harmful effects of using fresh manure
9.9 percent of households had the proper knowledge of the composting time, thus 72.9 percent of households practiced to use manure, the percentage of households using fresh manure were 13.2 percent
only 19.9 percent of households practiced full of three steps of composting in latrine
100 percent of households did not use exactly 4/7 steps in the process of composting outside latrine. In order to prevent diseases for people particularly in Thanh Luu commune generally in Ha Nam province, two recommendations were proposed that: (1) To strengthen communication activities to improve the knowledge of types of hygienic latrines, the harms of unhygienic latrines to increase the percentage of constructing hygienic latrine
(2) To enhance the guideline of manure handling skills in household, especially about the composting time, the steps of composting process and protective equipment.