AFRICA's HEALTHCARE

Every year, a quarter of a million children die in Africa, simply because they can’t afford to see a doctor or a nurse.

Although AID/HIV do fall under the category of healthcare, because of the size of the issue it is in a separate category for this purpose. Besides AIDs the health issues in Africa include; malnutrition and disease (which can often be attributed to poverty), the infant mortality rate, as well as the sparse presence of medical care and clinics. There is also a growing demand for psychological healthcare for victims of rape, and war such children who have been brainwashed and forced into these backwoods militias.

What's in the news:

Sierra Leone

Problems: infant mortality, Health, Poverty, Emergency Relief, Aid… etc.

is campaigning for free healthcare for the world's poorest children. They believe that the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in Africa could be saved each year by abolishing fees for healthcare.

Statistics show that 12,365 health professionals left the country in search of greener pastures between 1993 and 2002. Health World Bank estimates for the period 1995--2001 showed that life expectancy at birth was 57 years. The infant mortality rate was 58 per 1,000 live births and 25 per cent of children under five years were malnourished in that period. In 2001, sixty-four per cent of the population had access to an improved water source.

source: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=47527

CURRENT HEADLINES IN GHANA (healthcare)

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/health/ )

GABON: Typhoid outbreak extends to capital hit by water supply problems, Jan 2005

INFANT MORTALITY:

An issue that is continually associated with healthcare in Africa is complications during child-birth. This chart by Unicef shows the deaths in Africa compared to the rest of the world. http://medilinkz.org/Features/Articles/march2003/ReducingMMR.asp

This chart shows the infant mortality rate just in Africa:

MALNUTRITION:

Malnutrition in Africa is a real threat to the growth, survival and future creation of the continent.

In a 2006 New York Times article it talks about the threat of malnutrition and how it is killing so many, but also how leaving them alive is also a danger in that they live in pain:

"Their hunger is neither a temporary inconvenience nor a quick death sentence. Rather, it is a chronic, lifelong, irreversible handicap that scuttles their futures and cripples Ethiopia’s hopes to join the developed world."

in sub-saharan Africa:

-5 million children under 5 died in 2005, with malnutrition playing a major role

-That's 40% of deaths worldwide

below sub-saharan:

-33 million children under 5 are living with malnutrition

Not only does malnutrition affect the child's growth, it also effects how they learn, and their ability to concentrate.

Although Africa is in a constant battle in the fight against hunger there is hope in certain areas.

Ethiopia, which is said to possibily have a program that may be working, joined with the UN screens14 million children under 5 for nutrition and other health related problems. The program has also delivered vaccinations to prevent disease and deworming medicatons while it also educated and delivers nutrient fortified foods.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/28/world/africa/28malnutrition.html

Nutrition and food security in Africa http://medilinkz.org/healthtopics/nutrition/nutrition.asp

There have been many campaigns over the years to improve healthcare, in 2006: http://tv.oneworld.net/article/view/133602/

Children suffering from malnutrition, percent by country:

source: overpopulation.com

DISEASE:

Spread by insect bite:

Malaria: 300-500 million cases/year, 1.5-1.7 million deaths/year, with 90% of cases in children under 5

Yellow Fever:33 countries with a combined 508 million people are at risk to catch yellow fever in Africa, an estimated 200,000-300,000 new cases/year

Dengue Fever: endemic in more than 100 countries in the world including Africa. 2/5 of the world popluation are at risk for Dengue, with an estimated 50 million cases worldwide.

Spread through food/ water:

Typhoid Fever:approximatly 16 million cases a year worldwide, resulting in 600,000 deaths.

Cholera:in 1997, there was over 115,000 reported cases and 5,800 deaths in Africa

Hepatitis A:Is caused by poor hygeine and sanitation, can be prevented through education.

Parasites: Is caused by improper cooking methods, close living quarters and poor hygeine and malnutrition.

Spread through intimate contact:

AIDS/HIV (covered in other section)

Hepatitis B: In many parts of Africa, most people become infected with HVB during childhood; about 10% of the population become chronically infected.

MENINGOCOCCAL DISEASE: an infection in the thin lining surrounding the spinal chord and the brain. It causes stiffness of the muscle tissue and is spread through close and prolonged contact.

http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fmalar.htm- malaria

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs100/en/ - yellow fever

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs117/en/ - dengue fever

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/travel/diseases/typhoid.htm -typhoid fever

http://www.ifrc.org/WHAT/health/archi/fact/fcholera.htm -cholera

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs141/en/ -meningoccal disease

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs204/en/ -hepatitis B

ORGANIZATIONS HELPING:

UNICEF -UNICEF is the driving force that helps build a world where the rights of every child are realized. UNICEF has the global authority to influence decision-makers, and the variety of partners at grassroots level to turn the most innovative ideas into reality. That makes UNICEF unique among world organizations, and unique among those working with the young. UNICEF promotes education in Africa, and tries to overcome poverty, disease and discrimination in a child's life.

What is UNICEF doing around Africa?

Well, just to name a few actions that UNICEF is taking...

Nigeria- raising awareness about bird flu

Ghana- helping to clean toxic water

Liberia- preventing diseases that are the largest killers of children under one. (malaria and measles)

Burundi- demobilization of child soldiers

Mozambique- rebuilding storm damage

In Eastern Africa, UNICEF distributes supplies to hospital and has three main goals for children:

1. child and maternal nutrition

2. micronutrient deficiency control

and 3. household food security.

Unicef is said to save an estimated 100,000 lives a year.

to learn more visit

www.unicef.org

World Health Organization (WHO)/ Regional Office for Africa (AFRO)-

The WHO is a specialized agency of the UN, it is an international coordinater of public health, that was started in 1948 out of Geneva, Switzerland, and has 193 member states.

It has continuing efforts with monitoring infectous diseases such as AIDS, SARS and malaria and also teaches prevention and healthy lifestyles to at risk individuals.

The WHO/AFRO has several divisions within it to better provide aid to the health conditions in Africa, these include;

-Division of AIDS,Tuberculosis, and Malaria

-Division of Communicable Disease Prevention and ControlIt

-Division of Healthy Environments and Sustainable Development

-Division of Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable diseases

-Division of Family and Reproductive Health

-Division of Health Systems and Service Development

Africa Council for Food and Nutrition Sciences (AFRONUS)-

"The desire to unite food and nutrition workers into one organization began during the early 1970s in west Africa, culminating in the 1st African Nutrition Congress in 1975. Intercountry communication and cooperation increased in 1979 when representatives from five countries of eastern, central and southern Africa (ECSA) met in Gaborone, Botswana. The meeting became the start of an ECSA cooperation in food and nutrition activities. Today ECSA covers 16 countries and has a full time coordinator at the Commonwealth Regional Health Secretariat.

A second congress was held in Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1983. This congress also ended without a formal agreement as to how the African scientists could cooperate, but since ECSA was fairly well organized by the mid-1980s, an African group attending the 1985 IUNS congress in Brighton, UK, met and requested ECSA to host the 3rd Africa Food and Nutrition Congress in Zimbabwe in 1988. This congress stressed that special priority be given to training and manpower development, food and nutrition policy for Africa, organization and cooperation of food and nutrition workers and the formation of the Africa Council for Food and Nutrition Sciences (AFRONUS)." http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F154e/8F154E0f.htm

Africa - Society Presentation