You ve got the climate change, the dust storms, the death of the fisheries, but also due to the same process of over-irrigation, you ve got the salinization of the land and water, he added. Tuberculosis in the Aral Sea basin, which spans parts of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, is epidemic. There are an estimated 400 cases per 100,000 people in some towns, an incidence unmatched elsewhere in Central Asia and Europe. Anemia rates are among the highest in the world, with more than 95 percent of pregnant women suffering from a deficiency in red blood cells. As a result of a dramatic rise in birth deformities in Dashkhovuz, northern Turkmenistan, the region s 10 hospitals have set up special wards for babies with birth defects.
Respiratory infections are the main cause of death among children.
Cancer, hepatitis, diarrhea and kidney diseases are widespread. There have been reports of an outbreak of plague in Aralsk, a former fishing port in Kazakhstan, now 20 miles from the sea. Not surprisingly, life expectancy has dropped by almost five years over a decade in some places to 62 years for women and 59 for men. The disappearance of the Aral Sea is believed to be directly linked to the region s health crisis. Dust storms rage for up to 60 days a year, spreading toxic residue and salt left behind by the sea.