Peter and I visited the health facility in Garkawa and spoke with the local doctor about prevalence of water borne diseases and malaria. I learned some interesting things.
The IMR here is high, over 75 %. If malaria doesnt take them, malnutrition does. Waterborne diseases is the cherry on top.
Yet, there was no data at the clinic, they dont keep records. (Its more word of mouth through the staff living here). How does not having records help any development organization trying to see if there are improvements in health, with the implementation of development programs. Its a problem but not easily fixable. Even if they did record, people just don't come to the clinic. Its too far to walk. And if they do, they don't come back to finish their treatments.
The people here simply do not understand the link between water and disease. To them water is life, it is substenance. Not drinking the water is death. Mothers even feed their newborn children no older than 24 hours water, even after health care personnel try to explain to them NOT to, but rather breast feed. They refuse to breast feed, thinking their bodies not capable to give the babies nutrition, and supplement their breast milk with the dirty water, laced with bacteria and parasites... this causes numerous infant deaths.
And if you tell a mother their child is malnourished. They do not understand the diagnosis, nor believe it. Everything that is bad, is due to witchcraft and/or evil spirits. So when a child is sick due to malnutrition, they take the child to a lady who is trained in "bathing" away the evil spirits... she takes the child and bathes him for a couple days, day and night, making him drink the water he is bathing in as well; which furthers the child's sickness, as he intakes the dirty water.
Here within lies the barriers to improving the quality of life for these rural people. Providing safe water is one thing - but if they are not active in the development program, and know the intentions of the project, (why safe water is being provided etc.) they will continue to follow their old habits and drink water in the wells and the streams that are already in place, whether or not there is a bore hole provided. And even if they learn to drink only the bore hole water... they are still vunerable to the parasites in the streams and pools they bathe and wash their clothing in. (hook worm, ring worm, bilharzisis, etc. )
Here within the issue of 'cultural barriers' in development - how beliefs, perceptions of say, health, can retard development progress.
I also learnt that malnutrition in these parts is also due to the livlihood of these people. They are farmers, and from dawn to dusk they toil in the fields, making no time for their children, and not taking time to feed them either. The children will get one meal a day, at the end of the day when the women get back from the fields.
. . . . These are only some of the issues here, there are plenty more... including the manipulation of facts and mismanagement of resources by the government... The provision of clean and safe drinking water is a multi-facted issues. BUT IMPORTANT! Everyone not only has the right to water, but SAFE water.
Garkawa's Health Clinic
Inside Garkawa's Health Clinic
There is one room in the clinic.
Posters up on the wall in the clinic, help to educate the local people about water borne diseases and malaria.
Did you Know? (According to the WHO)
Nigeria has the 2nd highest rate of AIDS in the world.
Nigeria has the 4th highest rate of TB in the world.
What do you know about TB?
*TB kills 2 million people globally each year, 95% of these cases livinv in the developing nations, Nigeria ranks 4th.
*More than 8 million people living with HIV in Africa are also infected with TB
*An estimated 380, 000 new TB cases occur annulaly in Nigeria, about 105, 000 Nigerians die every years as a result of TB
*An estimated 3.1 million adults between the ages of 15-49 are HIV positive while the TB/HIV rate is about 27%
*HIV is contributing to the rise in number of TB cases in Nigeria.
*People with HIV are 5-10 times more likely to develop TB than those without HIV.
*TB kills if it is not treated but it is CURABLE and TB treatment is available and FREE under the government program in Nigeria.
Malaria in Nigeria
Malaria is a life-threatening parasitic disease transmitted by female anopheles mosquitoes. Most malaria infections, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, are caused by Plasmodium falciparum. It is a major cause of death and threatens 2.4 billion people, or about 40% of the world's population living in the world's poorest countries (WHO). Pregnant women and their unborn babies as well as children under five years of age are most vulnerable to malaria. At least 300 million acute cases of malaria in people of all ages are reported globally each year, and approximately 100 million episodes of malaria occur among children under five years of age. More than one million deaths are attributable to the disease annually (WHO).
In areas of Africa with stable malaria transmission, such as Nigeria, infection during pregnancy is estimated to cause as many as 10,000 maternal deaths each year, 8-14% of all low-birth-weight babies and 3-8% of all infant deaths. In Nigeria, malaria prevalence is as high as 80-85% and is the most common cause of outpatient visits to health facilities. With a case mortality rate ranging from 8-12.5% in infants and children, malaria accounts for 30% of child mortality in the country and is consistently recorded as one of the five leading causes of childhood mortality (UNICEF 1998). It is responsible for about 300,000 deaths each year among children, particularly those under five years of age in remote rural areas with poor access to health services (WHO/UNICEF 2003).
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