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Issues in Africa: Health Problems Issues in Africa: Health Problems Why are there problems? Directly related to underdevelopment. It is hard for a place to improve economically when the population is so greatly reduced by health problems like the HIV/AIDS virus and malaria. Colonial Health Practices European physicians-mainly military doctors. Treated epidemic rather than endemic diseases. Traditional Medicine During colonialism, it was the main form of treatment for Africans. Even today it is the primary means of medical care for many Africans. Many governments are experimenting with the integration of traditional practitioners into modern health services. Current Healthcare Picture HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, malnutrition, diarrheal diseases. Governments must provide: – – – – Safe drinking water Adequate sanitation Preventative medical care Access of healthcare to all segments of the population. Why is disease such a problem here? Climate Malnutrition and poor healthcare make people susceptible. Inadequate healthcare education and delivery systems. Health care facilities are inaccessible by the rural population. HIV/AIDS and Malaria HIV/AIDS and Malaria kill more Africans than any other diseases. – – – – 70% of the people infected with the AIDS virus are in sub-Saharan Africa. 90% of the world’s Malaria cases are in Africa. Up to 50% of Africa’s population has malaria at one time. Malaria developed a resistance to anti-malarial drugs. Malnutrition According to the UN 200 million people were chronically malnourished in 1999. Malnutrition contributes to incidence of deaths among Africans from diseases that are not usually fatal. Schistosomiasis: Symptoms Fever Chills Lymph node enlargement Liver/spleen enlargement Rash Diarrhea Frequent urination Schistosomiasis: Transmission Transferred when a person has contact with infected water (bathing, swimming, etc.) Burrows into skin and moves towards liver and lungs Schistosomiasis: Cure? Can be treated with a drug called Praziquantel Prevented by not swimming in contaminated water Sleeping Sickness: Symptoms Fever Headaches Irritability Fatigue Swollen glands Aching muscles Confusion/personality changes Sleeping Sickness: Transmission Spread through the bite of an infected tsetse fly Sleeping Sickness What animals have build up immunity to sleeping sickness and the Tsetse fly?!? Sleeping Sickness: Cure? Medications can treat sleeping sickness but there is no prevention River Blindness: Symptoms Rashes Nodules under skin Vision changes (larvae die in the eyes causing clouding of the cornea= blindness) Leopard skin is one symptom of river blindness. The more infected black fly bites a person receives, the more severe the illness becomes. Okello Noel, 18, lives in Kibega Villiage, in Pader District, Uganda. He lost his sight in 2007. http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/02/health/riverblindness/index.html?hpt=hp_c4 River Blindness: Transmission Black flies are collected by community members who use themselves as bait. Thousands of black flies are brought to the Carter Centersupported lab each year. Each sample collection contains a paper with the month, region, place of collection and species. The flies are tested to see if they contain DNA from the river blindness parasite, an indication of the presence of the disease River Blindness: Cure? There is nothing to prevent the disease but it can be treated with medications Community drug distributors provide doses of the drug ivermectin for free in river blindness endemic areas. The correct dosage is determined by the patient's height. Mass drug distribution is a key component of the drive to eliminate the blinding disease throughout Uganda. Guinea Worm: Symptoms Fever Swelling Pain in infected area Guinea Worm: Transmission Drinking contaminated water with the parasite 1. 2. 3. Grows 2-3 feet long and moves to lower limbs Blister forms, limb placed in water, blister bursts (releasing larvae), and worm emerges. Pulled out slowly Guinea Worm: Cure? No medicine Worm can be pulled out slowly Drinking treated water can prevent guinea worm Cases have gone from 3.5 million per year in 1986 to 1,058 in 2011! Latest on Guinea Worm Eradication: During January–September 2012, a total of 521 cases of Guinea worm disease were reported worldwide, representing a 48% decrease in cases compared to 1,004 cases reported during the same period in 2011. The 2012 cases were reported from four countries: Chad, Ethiopia, Mali, and South Sudan; 96% of the cases were in South Sudan (502 cases). Most (81%) of the South Sudanese cases were confined to a single county Malaria: Symptoms Fever Headache Chills Vomiting An estimated 91% of deaths in 2010 were in the African Region, followed by the SouthEast Asian Region (6%), and the Eastern Mediterranean Region (3%). About 86% of deaths globally were in children. Malaria: Transmission Spread through the bite of an infected mosquito Malaria: Cure? Medication can be taken to prevent getting malaria (usually used by travelers) and to treat malaria. Prevention- controlling the number of mosquitoes HIV/AIDS: Symptoms Diarrhea Fatigue Fever Headache Mouth sores Sore throat Swollen lymph glands Deficient immune system HIV/AIDS: Transmission 1. 2. 3. Contaminated blood transfusions Sexual contact Shared contaminated needles HIV/AIDS: Cure? No cure Medications can improve life