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The SQA will expect you to know. The reasons for and impact of poor water supply on African people The ease of getting good accessible health care in African countries The causes and impact of specific health issues such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria. Health and Development.
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The SQA will expect you to know • The reasons for and impact of poor water supply on African people • The ease of getting good accessible health care in African countries • The causes and impact of specific health issues such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria
Health and Development • The reasons for poor water supply and impact upon African people • The importance of fresh water • Access to safe water is at the root of many health, food and development issues in Africa. • It is estimated that around 300 million people in Africa are affected by water shortage • One of the UNs Millennium development goals is to halve those without access to fresh water and access to proper sanitation. • The cost of supplying clean water to Sub Saharan Africa is estimated to be about £2 billion and the UN estimates the benefits will be about £16 billion per year. • According to water Aid Ethiopia has just 6% of its population receiving good sanitation and just 22% have access to safe water.
Effects of unsafe water and poor sanitation on African countries Health • When unsafe water is combined with poor hygiene the conditions for ill health are perfect. Diarrhoea is one of the biggest killers of under fives in Africa because of this. • Diarrhea is reduced by 65% if good hygiene, fresh water and proper sanitation are available. Millions of school days are lost each year as pupils are just too sick to attend school. This constant health risk has devastating effects in the economy and education of African countries.
Education • It much more likely children will attend school if water is available within 15 minutes rather than one hour's walk. The amount of time collecting water for cooking and cleaning does not leave enough time for education. • In Tanzania and Ghana, teachers are also reported to be much less likely to apply for jobs in areas of poor sanitation and water supply.
Effect on women. • Women bear the brunt of bringing fresh water miles to the family. The average weight of water women carry is the same as a full suitcase a family would carry on holiday. The walk to water is often as far as an hour and as women already have problems accessing the education system their school attendance drops further. The UN believes that one of the key ways of raising development in Africa is to increase the numbers of girls attending school.
Case Study of effects of poor sanitation and unsafe water supply Water Aid in Ethiopia • Water Aid identified the following problems that prompted them to get involved in finding solutions. Case study : Ethiopia • Sister Marta Asefa works as a hygiene educator in rural villages in central Ethiopia. “Before I joined WaterAid I was a nurse,” she explains. “Most of the patients I saw were suffering from water previously we thought that it was evil spirits that made our babies sick. But now we have been taught it is not that which makes our children ill, it is the lack of clean water and the absence of cleanliness – now we know why our children have problems.
The biggest problems are internal parasites, diarrhoea and scabies. We learn how to care for our children, about latrines and hygiene education.” related diseases. Now I teach people so that they can control their own health and not have any diseases. When I go into a village I tell people about health and sanitation - how to stay healthy, the importance of clean water and latrines, • how to look after their children and how to clean the compounds.” I ask them about the diseases in their village and from that I know what their needs are. For example if children have diarrhoea they often don’t know that it comes from the water. If children have scabies I explain to their mothers that they should wash their children and clothes regularly to avoid this skin disease.”
Source: Water Aid • How easy is it to get good accessible health care in African countries? • How common is accessible health care in African countries? • Health care means access to doctors, hospitals, drugs and treatment. A fully developed health care system offers comprehensive treatment that is available in all parts of the country and is note beyond the means of patients. • Not having a developed health care system affects the ability of a country to develop. If people are too ill to work, go to school or have to care for ill relatives then countries struggle to progress.
