THE UNENDING FIGHT.
By: Henry Pascal Mgassa
Tags: Tanzania, Africa, Fight, Disease, Health

One Great African leader, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere, talked about three monstrous enemies of a nation. One of those being Diseases. Since health is not just merely the absence of disease alone but integrates itself with the social and psychological instability in this piece Disease will extensively be adressed as a state of being unhealthy. And in saying so i,ve gone further to viewing the human health outside his own body.

NOTE:This Writing will leave you with a question as it is clear that “how to’s” have somewhat proven failure to give solutions in this aspect.

So, owing this view to the Environment to begin with, it does affect our health in a variety of ways. The interaction between human health and the environment has been extensively studied and environmental risks have been proven to significantly impact human health, either directly by exposing people to harmful agents, or indirectly, by disrupting life-sustaining ecosystems.

Although the exact contribution of environmental factors to the development of death and disease cannot be precisely determined, the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that thirteen million deaths annually are attributable to preventable environmental causes. This particular report also estimates that, 24% of the global disease burden (healthy life years lost) and 23% of all deaths (premature mortality) are attributable to environmental factors, with the environmental burden of diseases being 15 times higher in developing countries than in developed countries, due to differences in exposure to environmental risks and access to health care.

However, huge economic development and population growth result in continuing environmental degradation. Intensification of agriculture, industrialization and increasing energy use are the most severe driving forces of environmental health problems. For countries like mine who are in the early stages of development with a GDP per capita less than 1000USD, the major environmental hazards to health are associated with Illiteracy, Unawareness, which are daughters of widespread poverty, other associations being severe lack of public infrastructure, such as access to drinking water, sanitation, and lack of adequate health care services as well as emerging problems of industrial and automobile pollution.

However, environmental health hazards are not limited to the developing world alone. Although at a lesser extend, environmental risks are also present in wealthier countries and are primarily attributed to urban air and water pollution. Occurrences of Asthma are rising dramatically throughout the developed countries, and environmental factors appear to be at least partly to blame. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment synthesis report warns that the erosion of ecosystems could lead to an increase in existing diseases such as malaria and cholera, as well as a rising risk of new diseases emerging.

Climate change is also posing risks to human population health and well-being and thus is emerging as a serious concern worldwide. In 2000 climate change was estimated to be responsible for approximately 2.4% of worldwide diarrhoea and 6% of malaria. According to the IPCC third assessment report the world temperature is expected to further rise during the century, implying increased health threats for human populations, especially in low-income countries. Reviewing the US literature addressing health impacts of climate variability and change Ebi et al, in their article Climate change and human health impacts in the United States, conclude that climate change is expected to increase morbidity and mortality risks from climate-sensitive health outcomes such as extreme heat events, floods, droughts and fires. A spread in vector–borne diseases, like malaria, is also expected. A study in Mexico revealed that lower greenhouse gases emissions would result in avoidance of some 64,000 premature deaths over a twenty year period.This is just highlight how bad we are and as hard as it may seem to say we are still loosing in this fight against unhealthy communities.

Now, The Question is, for years now we’ve known the causes of all this trouble and worse enough we are even aware of the solutions to these problems, we clearly discuss them from time to time. Why then are we still on the loosing end?, what then should you and I amend to so as to win, just for the sake of the coming generations?