the environment and health

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9r9XwDx7MQ&feature=channel

 

                         The environment and health

 

The environment has been associated with many diseases which have caused many children and people  to loss their lives or to live with conditions that is affecting their lives in one way or the other. The video  link above shows how man’s activities have great consequences on the environment and the impact it has on  people living in this area and also a source of conflict .Oil is said to generally corrupt, oil pollutes and its create confusion and chaos in any place it is found so is the case in the Niger Delta region and Africa in general. It creates a situation where people surrender their hard work and wait for oil money. So in this oil economy people turn not to work to get money but are expected to receive money from Oil Company while the oil companies on their part exploit the resources and the truth value of the oil is never paid.

Oil Company operating in this region are multinational company, there dominate the extraction of the crude oil. Most often these transnational oil companies have the technical know-how and so it has become a relationship of a powerful partner that dictates to the government since they have the capacities to do so. It is this powers that the company has that they relate with the environment, human right, Justice, governance etc. Before the arrival of the transnational oil company in Nigeria the Niger Delta was said to be an idyllic natural paradise, because it lies on the tropical forest belt of Africa it was blessed with a huge bio diversity .It had clean air and water and people who lived here normally survived from the land because of the availability of these resources, they depended on the land. People were in turned with nature .The cultured required that the land many not be vandalized something that is now rampant and is taking place. But things change when the palm oil companies come followed by the oil companies. These companies never really paid the true value of the resources that were extracted and did not really care how sustainable this extraction and its effect on the environment and the people living in these communities. This companies descended on the land and the consequences was pollution (air, land and water, corruption, deforestation etc.This devastation caused massive poverty and the environmental pollution. Peoples health and livelihoods were jeopardize

                      

                       The effects of the oil extraction

What is happening in the Niger delta region is what happened in regions where oil is extracted. Looking at its effects on the environment it has caused air, water and land pollution. This effects are usually long lasting .when oil mixes with water it caused what can be referred to as "mousse"  and also the burning of natural gas, coal crude oil goes a long way to increase green house gas effect This is as a result of the fact that certain atmospheric gases, such as carbon dioxide water vapour  and methane and, are able to change the energy balance of the planet by absorbing  long wave radiation emitted from the Earth's surface. This has caused a change in climate since it has enhanced   the Earth's climate which has lead to increase in temperature, flooding, radiation which causes illnesses. We see the destruction of bio diversity, aquatic life from the oil spill. The ecosystem changes .The food chain becomes poison, as the toxin from the spill gets in to the food chain. Breeding grounds are destroyed, the feeding area is destroyed. All this has grievous consequences on man. The people are demanding that the land that is polluted be cleaned and restore so that the life stock, aquatic life can strive, the waters be cleaned. No environmental justice. People who depend on aquatic life have lose their source of livelihood and poverty has becomes endemic also the fact that the people consume some of this aquatic life it has lead to poisoning of people and the animal. People health deteriorates and great damage is done on the immune systems of both human and animal. The cycle of poisoning continues for many years

Environment, poverty and health are greatly interwoven in this situation. The destruction of the environment by this oil company has the ability to great poverty in those communities where there are found. Because the communities have been devastated, livelihoods are ruin and the people fall in to poverty. People live in abject poverty, and it is said people live on less than a dollar a day. No access to clean water, no electricity and sanitation is deplorable .Waste disposal is done in the waters and communities are faced with malaria, cholera and other infectious diseases that can be contracted from such environments.

People have the impression that they have been stolen from and this has lead to an upraising of youth who use crimes, gangs and arm rebellions to get their own share of oil money. It has been turned in to a conflict and this conflict is threatening the peace and stability of Nigeria.

       

Proposed solutions for the problems and a way forward

The multinational company should clean up the spill oil. There should be held accountable and there have to take responsibility. Learning from the recent Deepwater Horizon BP oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico where it has been reported $6bn has been estimated for the cost of cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico and this is not done in the Niger Delta region. Oil spill comes as a result of the releases of  crude oil from tankers,offshore platforms,drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products . Below are some of the Methods which can be used to clean up the oil

-  The use of bioremediation which is the use of  micro-organism to break down or remove oil.

-Burning show be controlled burning so that it can reduce the amount of oil in water. This should be done when winds are low. The problem with this method is that it also causes air pollution

-Solidifying is another method which can be used .In this case Solidifiers are used and there are composed of dry hydrophobic polymers . There change the physical state of spilled oil from liquid to a semi-solid or a rubber-like material that floats on water. Solidifiers are insoluble in water, therefore the removal of the solidified oil is easy and the oil will not leach out.

-oil can be sucked up along with the water, and then with the use of centrifuge oil from the water can be separated. The water is then returned to the sea but sometimes this water contains some amount of oil.

Prevention of oil spills should be a priority. While efforts should be made to remove all oil that has been spilled into the environment there must also be prevented, in the case of the Niger delta there is need for repair of physical facilities since most of them are old and dilapidated. These structures sometimes explode resulting in an outbreak of fire which consumes the surrounding land. Despite of the anger of the people, people should stop sabotaging and vandalizing these oil structures because there help in spilling oil and destroying their own environment, what they are claiming to be fighting against.

The government should invest in renewable energy. Solar or wind energy should be the way to go. By investing on renewable energy the extraction quarter of oil will be reduce. It should also be the responsibility of the government to make sure that their oil companies are brought to book if they violate any of the country’s oil laws something which is not done often because of the financial power that these oil companies have, the reason for corruption. In case of spill regulatory agencies should assessed them and then penalties levied on them and money paid in insurance and legal claims.

Insofar as the people of the communities think that they are not benefiting from the oil, they is need that the government invest more in these communities. Fighting poverty in these communities is very important. This should be done with the creation of more schools and also technical education should be encouraged. Health care facilities should be created making it affordable for everybody. From the videos one notice of the degraded sanitation there is needed for proper waste disposal method and also the need of roads, clean water should be made available to people. It is estimated that about 78% of the Nigerian population lacks electricity

 Oil companies should not just be there to extract they should also participant in the development of the communities. So there should make available fund for infrastructure and social amenities which will lead to development. Transnational companies should allow the reformation of the governance process in the oil industry and there should be responsible for environment degradation. These companies should also pay attention to sustainability. The fight against corruption should be at the fore center both at the level of the oil companies and the governments and the people should be able to gain from the oil. Because of lack of employment the youth have gotten involve in crimes and gang actives. So the interest of the people should be the focus.

It is devastating to see how the environment is destroyed, a poverty is endemic in the society, and the increase in conflicts which result in the lost of live. What has been affected is the spoiling of the land, with consequences for health and livelihood

References
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9r9XwDx7MQ&feature=channel

-http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Oc-Po/Oil-Spills

-://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill

-http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals

Malaria Prevention

Malaria Prevention
Any time I come across the word malaria, my childhood flashes in to my mind. I begin to think of the rituals my mother went through so that we could not get infected despite that once in a while one of us will still fall sick of malaria. I wonder if we did not go through all those process what the consequences would have been. We lived in a capital city, off cause it was hot and humid and more especially the surrounding were usually not that clean. My mother kept our home very clean but the big trouble was the fact that the drainage systems were really very bad. There were this gutters and people usually would doom their waste inside and worst water could not flow through because the gutters were full and also people open up their toilets and everything went in to this gutters, it was not a good site, There were sinking and off course breathing grounds for mosquitoes. In spite of the fact that we keep our immediate surroundings clear, the accumulation of waste and stagnant water resulted in the growth of mosquitoes. So my mother did what she new best. Three times a week i.e. Monday, Thursday and Saturday she would spray the entire house with a mosquito spray (common name shell tox) with all the doors and windows closed. We will then have to sit outside for least 2 hours while the smell of the spray evaporates. When that was done we had a night free from mosquitos’ noise and biting. But now there are more effective spray that can last for 3-6 months depending in the insecticide and in some cases there can even last 9 to 12 months. I wish we had those types then
Every month she made sure that she gave us preventive malaria drugs to take and in this case the drug was nivaquine. When I became an adult nivaquine became resistant to malaria .Oh my God I hated taking the medicine because it was so bitter but at least it protected us against malaria. We used to pray for heavy rain to fall because heavy rains help to wash away the mosquitoes and also cleaned the gutters. We never really cared where the rain will doom the waste insofar as the gutters around our vicinity were clean, and that was really selfish I think because wherever it deposited it contain, it will accumulate and become another breathing ground for mosquitoes. Later on in life when my parents build our home they covered the windows with nets. The windows could be left open and still no mosquitoes will come through because the nets on the window prevented them from coming through and I really thought that was great. That was my mother and her fight against malaria,


Ways of preventing malaria


- Use of insecticide-treated bed nets. Most often one can buy these treated bed nets form some pharmacies and also there are bought from health center and they are given to pregnant women .One still have to take note that usually not all health centers have these nets to give out.
- The use of indoor residual spraying is very effective in preventing malaria, because some of these insecticides can last from 3 to 6 months while some other insecticides may even last from 9 to 12 months
- Use of intermittent presumptive treatment during pregnancy, it is very nice if a pregnant woman takes these drugs they will help to fight malaria in her body. Also these preventive drugs should be given to people travelling to tropical areas.
-Early diagnosis and prompt treatment. This is very important. Most of the time from what I had observed while growing up and as an adult many people did not go to the hospital, when they fell sick they did self diagnoses and just presume they had malaria, they either bought drugs from vendors who carried drugs around in baskets and these guys had no medical know how . These drugs were exposed to the sun and expired and most of the time fake. It is imperative that people go to the hospitals and get a lab test then the doctor can prescribe the type of malaria drugs they have to take and in what dose they need to take them .Drugs should be gotten from a pharmacy where drugs are kept under the right temperature and are in safe conditions and they are not fake.
- The environment should be kept clean, good sanitation conditions are necessary in the prevention of malaria. When we finally left the capital city and were leaving in another province, it was much cleaner. Every month everybody had to go out and clean the roads and the surrounding Dooming of waste on the roads or in the gutter was prohibited .The community made sure that nobody broke the rules. It was just amazing. No stagnant water and smelling water and we kids love that environment
-We are waiting for the vaccine to be created which will help in preventing malaria, and research is said to be on going
-Carry sensitization campaigns .This campaigns will help the community gain more knowledge on malaria prevention


Preventing other deceases at a global level



Fighting deceases at a global level is very important. People in poor areas benefit from them, because it they are left only in the hands of their governments not much will be done and the fact that there is a lack of health services in these areas and no political will to do so.

A global campaign is necessary so as to create awareness. This is been done but more needs to be done because people still do not know how some of these infectious deceases are being transmitted or what they need to do in case of exposure and prevention .In the case of HIV there is need for education on the importance of the condom (although abstainace, and being faithful are part of the campaigns know that it is often difficult for people to be) and how there should be used. I can still remember during an HIV campaign when I was still a university student back in my home country, condoms were given to lecturers to distribute to students, but many lecturers did not find the courage to distribute these condoms. It was shocking that lecturers found it difficult to give out these condoms. They said they were too embarrassed to be seen distributing condoms and doing that would mean encouraging students to have sex.Parents also find themselves in this type of predicament but the reality is their children are having sex and as such something needs to be done. So there is a need to train people that would talk about this to student freely and who do not attach any stigma on sex. Since most of the time parent really fined it difficult to talk about this issues, schools should come up with curriculum to teach student and also provide places where student can go seek guidance.


At a global level funds should be made available that will help other less developing countries in their health care to provide for a free HIV test .If a fee is levied then it should be at a minimal cost at most community clinics, and at health fairs. Also anti retroviral drugs should be affordable and in some cases free to those suffering in addition to that free anti retroviral drugs should be provided to pregnant women and in case their children are infected same should be done for them. More effort should be carried out to expand access to antiretroviral therapy which is said to be only available to less than 10% of those that urgently require it.

As we know HIV and TB is said to form a lethal combination so it is important that global policy on the control of HIV-related TB and advises on how those fighting against TB and HIV can work together as is being done by WHO and its international partners

A service should be made available where if infected with either HIV or TB you can go there for treatment. This may be done by contributing to the health services of less developed countries. Resources must be invested in building and strengthening health systems and also access to
essential medicines should be made available.


It can be said that at the global level certain things are being put in place for prevention of these decreases. The UN Millennium Development Goals have been put in place which is global action plan to achieve the eight anti-poverty goals by 2015.The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) provide concrete, numerical benchmarks for tackling extreme poverty in its many dimensions. This is because by tackling poverty more can be achieve in relation to health care and health. Thus achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will translate to health for all citizens.


My Thought


Growing up and seeing many people around me die of HIV AID I get to understand what the family feels like and what goes on. Having lost three family members to AID and also having a family member battling AID present I have come to understand the power of information. But it was a shame that during this time when these my family member were sick it was so difficult for elders in the family tell us the younger ones what these relatives were suffering from. I quite remember that they made us understand that they were poison. The debate heated between the elders when my father said we the younger ones deserve to know what this was all about. I remember he sat us down against the advice of the other elders and told us what was going on and how we needed to protect ourselves from the disease. He made us understand what this sickness was all about and how we could contract it and how it could be prevented. It was just shocking to me that something like this was kept from us. When I look back what was important to my father was that we stay alive and health for him talking about sex was a little price to pay compared to our lifes. Information has the power to change socitiey.What people do with information when they receive can change a situation drastically
I still cannot believe how people die from diseases that can be prevented, since much is not even need to prevent these diseases. It is therefore important that at the grass root, the community should be able to come together to help prevent these preventable diseases. For me when people die of diseases that can be prevented I wonder if there is simple the lack of will power to do so.
Governments have a great part to play. If you look at democratic societies they is always the tendency that these societies turn to provide basic facilities to their citizen, but in undemocratic society, underdevelopment is more relavant.There is corruption and embezzlement which have left the greater part of the society poor .So at this level they is need for a proactive civil society because as long as poverty exist people will continue to die of preventable sickness. It also follows that women should be educated so that the fight against poverty can be achieved. Societies should be able to prevent preventable diseases.


References

Ruxin, J., Paluzzi, J., Wilson, P., Tosan, Y., Kruk, M. & Teklehaimanot, A. 2005. Emerging consensus in HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, and access to essential medicines. (pdf) The Lancet, Vol. 365 (12), 618-621.
/www.unmillenniumproject.org/documents/TheLancetHealth.pdf
//www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
//www.undp.org/mdg/basics

Maternal and child mortality in developing countries

  

Reading through the material provided i personally found it very informative and educative and touching. It made me realize the enormity of maternal and child mortality. It makes it even more overwhelming when you know that in sub-Saharan Africa a woman has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth as compare to 1 in 2,800 risks for a woman from a developed region and also the fact that in sub-Saharan Africa 1 in 8 children dies before their fifth birthday while in Southern Asia 1 in 14 children die before age five, alarming statistics yet true

It is also more alarming that these 8 million children and 350,000 women who die each year die of causes that could be prevented. It is recognized that the health of women and children is key to progress. Of all development goals less improvement is said to have been made on maternal health than any other Millennium development goal. It is as such very important to save women and children thus the reason why “Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health” sets out how we can work together to save women and children.

  

A mother’s health profoundly affects the health and well-being of her children.I can still remember  as if it was yesterday when my mother was sick my sibling and i almost went hungry ,her health affected everybody in the house because even our sanitation and  education suffered when she was sick .The aim is reducing maternal mortality by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 (http://www.childinfo.org/maternal_mortality). 

It has been observed that the lifetime risk of maternal death is much greater in the poorest countries than in the richest (1 in 12 for women in east Africa compared with 1 in 4000 in northern Europe).

The follow reasons are causes of maternal death. 25% of maternal deaths are caused by severe bleeding, infection 15%, unsafe abortion 13%, eclampsia 12%, obstructed labor 8%, Indirect causes including anemia, malaria, 20% heart disease and 8% other causes which include ectopic pregnancy, or complication of anesthesia or embolism.  ( BMJ 2001)   

 According to the 2000 -2003  global distribution  of under five deaths of major causes of child mortality pneumonia  19%,neonatal 37%,Aids 3%,diarrhea account for 17 per cent of under-five deaths, malaria and measles account for  12% while injuries and other causes (such as armed conflicts) account for  13 %  of child mortality.These are closely linked to Child under nutrition ,unsafe water, poor hygiene practices and inadequate sanitation (http://www.unicef.org/health).  

Both social and biological reason account for maternal and child mortality. Income and maternal education are two causal determinants of child mortality in populations of the developing world.  Maternal education has a strong impact on infant and child mortality.Startistics show that each year increment in mother’s education corresponds with a 7-9% decline of under- 5s’mortality (Soc Sci Med Vol 27).The factors found in repeated DHS programmes explains these trends are fertility behavior; nutritional status, breastfeeding, and infant feeding; the use of health services by mothers and for children; environmental health conditions; and socioeconomic status. An educated woman understands these well and is much likely to practice them and has options to consider from.

Although poverty is closely associated to maternal and child mortality society's inefficiency in planning, and the incapacity to make changes can greatly account for mortality. The  political will to address the problem of maternal health in developing countries is most often not at the focal center because the magnitude of the problem is not yet grasp ,government do not consider greatly it importance and in cases where there are done it is often done without a clear view of the concrete content of the political and social strategies that are the necessary complements of an adequate knowledge base (Atwood et al. 1997).

Preventing maternal deaths requires a functioning health system which often is not very ineffective in developing world either due of lack of it or the poor state and under staffed and equipped state there are in. Health care is very important and as such there is the need to mobilize professionals and the community. Limited awareness of the magnitude and manageability of the problem increases maternal and child mortality. Antenatal care and training of traditional birth attendants makes it possible for women in rural areas to have access to antenatal care and birth attendants thus decreasing maternal and child mortality.

Some cultural practices affect maternal and child mortality. In cases where selective abortion is practice where the female fetus is aborted it increases the ratio of child mortality and gender discrimination paractise.Some cultures still practice female genital mutilation which have lead to some women dying of bleeding or of an infection. This according to the world health organization has great effects on the woman’s health and child birth

To conclude the good news is that accounting  latest United Nations under-five mortality estimates released  2010  by UNICEF suggest 12,000 fewer children are dying each day around the world compared to 1990 still more needs to be done because it is pathetic to see  women and children dying from preventable causes.

References

Atwood K, Colditz GA, Kawachi I (1997) From public health science to prevention policy: placing science in its social and political contexts. American Journal of Health Planning 87, 1603–1606.

Levels & Trends in Child Mortality: Report 2010.” United Nations Inter-Agency Group on Child Mortality Estimation.

Reducing maternal mortality in developing world:sector-wide approaches may be key.BMJ 2001; 322 : 917 doi: 10.1136/bmj.322.7291.917 (Published 14 April 2001)

Maternal education and child survival in developing countries by John G. Cleland and Jerome K. van Ginneken in Social Science & Medicine Volume 27, Issue 12

http://www.unicef.org/health)

http://www.childinfo.org/maternal_mortality)