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Issues in Africa:
Health Problems
Issues in Africa:
Health Problems
Why are there problems?
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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
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European physicians-mainly military doctors.
Treated epidemic rather than endemic
diseases.
Traditional Medicine
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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
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HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis,
malnutrition, diarrheal diseases.
Governments must provide:
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Safe drinking water
Adequate sanitation
Preventative medical care
Access of healthcare to all segments of the
population.
Why is disease such a problem here?
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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
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HIV/AIDS and Malaria kill more Africans than
any other diseases.
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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
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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
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Fever
Chills
Lymph node enlargement
Liver/spleen enlargement
Rash
Diarrhea
Frequent urination
Schistosomiasis: Transmission
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Transferred when a person has contact with
infected water (bathing, swimming, etc.)
Burrows into skin and moves towards liver and
lungs
Schistosomiasis: Cure?
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Can be treated with a drug called Praziquantel
Prevented by not swimming in contaminated water
Sleeping Sickness: Symptoms
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Fever
Headaches
Irritability
Fatigue
Swollen glands
Aching muscles
Confusion/personality changes
Sleeping Sickness: Transmission
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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?
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Medications can treat sleeping sickness but there
is no prevention
River Blindness: Symptoms
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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?
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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
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Fever
Swelling
Pain in infected area
Guinea Worm: Transmission
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Drinking contaminated water with the parasite
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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?
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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
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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
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Spread through the bite of an infected mosquito
Malaria: Cure?
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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
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Diarrhea
Fatigue
Fever
Headache
Mouth sores
Sore throat
Swollen lymph glands
Deficient immune system
HIV/AIDS: Transmission
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2.
3.
Contaminated blood transfusions
Sexual contact
Shared contaminated needles
HIV/AIDS: Cure?
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No cure
Medications can improve life