Disease in Eastern Africa

1
Disease in Eastern Africa

• Reminder of Area of Interest

Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
2
A Recap of the Climate

• Eastern Africa has an arid and warm climate
• Rift Valleys
• The Seasons
• 1 Dry
• 2 Wet Seasons
• Winds are brought off Indian Ocean

3
Recent Climate Change

• Africa has warmed roughly .7 degs C in 20th
  century
• Roughly .05 deg C per decade
• Precipitation in the area has increased in
  Eastern Africa

4
Impacts of Current Changes

• Warmer sea surface temperatures
• Longer dry seasons
• Sea Levels have rose to a higher level
• More rain during wet seasons

5
Future Outlook on the Climate

• Future climate changes are predicted to have
  approx .2 to roughly .5 degree change per decade
• The wet seasons precipitation will increase
• The dry seasons
• precipitation will decrease

6
Impacts That May Occur

• Stronger flooding, desertification, droughts, and
  severe weather
• Temperature will rise even more
• Sea Levels will rise even higher
• The dry and wet seasons will become one and one
• Water will be hard to come by
• Insect populations will continue to
  increasespreading two primary diseases malaria
  and cholera

7
Malaria

• What is Malaria?
• How does Malaria kill?
• digests the red blood cell's hemoglobin
• alters the adhesive properties of the cell
• Symptoms of Malaria
• fever, chills, flu-like illness, tiredness,
  and diarrhea
• Who does Malaria affect?
• Anyone who has the malaria parasites in
  their blood
• Bitten victims of the mosquito

8
Life Cycle and Facts

• Facts about Malaria
• The Parasites can live in a Mans liver for up to
  30 years.
• An estimated 700,000-2.7 million people die of
  malaria each year, 75 of them are African
  children.
• In 2002, malaria was the fourth leading cause of
  death in children in developing countries

9
Cholera

• What is Cholera?
• bacteria
• transferred via water and food
• How does Cholera Kill?
• violent diarrhea that causes massive losses of
  fluid
• Symptoms of Cholera
• stomach pains, diarrhea, dehydration,
  vomiting, and cramping
• Who does Cholera affect?
• Anyone who drinks contaminated items

10
Facts

• Facts about cholera
• The cholera epidemic in Africa has lasted more
  than 20 years.
• Cholera is mainly a concern in sub-Saharan
  Africa and South America.
• To totally get rid of Cholera improvements on
  sewage and wells are crucial.

11
Treatment for Malaria and Cholera

• Malaria
• Treatment for malaria depends on where the
  infection is and the climate of misquotes because
  some variations of the disease are immune to
  different medications.
• Cholera
• treatment for dehydration which must be
  treated urgently. Severe dehydration requires the
  replacement of fluid intravenously and antibiotic
  therapy.

12
(No Transcript)
13

• Amounts of fall have
• decreased over time
• during the dry season

14
Deaths Due to Malaria

• Significantly higher amounts of deaths during the
  rainy seasons
• A secondary spike of deaths is seen during the
  short rains

Deaths of Patients at Ndolage Hospital, 2001
Deaths of Patients at Rubya Hospital, 2001
15
Average Rainfall In East Africa Per Year
16
Malaria
17
Preventing Malaria
Common ways villagers prevent getting malaria

• Make fires and sleep by them
• Mosquito coils placed under or next to beds
• Clear bushes to destroy potential mosquito
  breeding grounds
• Placing screens in windows and other places
  around the house
• Draining of stagnant waters
• Bed nets with or without pesticides
• Pesticides alone

18
Bed Netting

• People are protected from mosquitoes while
  sleeping.
• Sometimes people place pesticides on them to
  enhance the protection and kill mosquitoes.
• Cost about 5-10 a piece
• The number of cases of malaria is cut in half
  when bed nets with insecticides are used

19
Problems with Bed Netting

• Very expensive for families to buy some for
  everyone

• Tanzania Average household size is 6-7 people.

• Average of 1.5 nets per household 4 people are
  without nets

• Kenya Average household size 8-9 and some with
  16

• Average of about 2-4 nets in a house hold 5
  are without nets

• Only 25 use pesticides on them.

20
Best Ways to Treat Malaria
Villagers said these were the best ways to treat
malaria
21
Natural Cures
Most popular way to treat malaria.
1) Quite common, well known, and very familiar
2) Easily available, less expensive, and an
effective aid before going to a medical center
(if necessary)
3) Used by pregnant women with malaria because it
is known to not cause complications during
pregnancy
Plants like the Kajule, Nkaka, and the Mwarobaini
are some used
22
Treatment Facilities

• Every household contributes money each year to
  the facility

• Guaranteed medical coverage and medicine for
  whatever they
• need

• In cases of emergency, those who dont pay
  still receive
• treatment, but must pay their contribution
  when they are
• better

• Extremely poor people dont
• need to pay anything and receive
• free medicine and treatment

23
Problems

• Lack of money in governments causes many

• No early warning mechanisms to respond to
  climate disasters and disease outbreaks

• Cannot help pay for bed nets, vaccines etc. to
  help treat or prevent the disease

• Late diagnosis of malaria in children

• The number of mosquitoes is at its highest
  during the rainy season

• Mosquitoes are becoming immune to medicines
  used to prevent malaria

24
Programs and Organizations

• World Health Organization

• Helps to determine what needs to be done in the
  regions
• and how to help

• Spread the Net

• Collects money and for every 10 donates a bed
  net to UNICEF that is then
• sent to Africa.

• Roll Back Malaria

A UN backed program that gives bed nets to the
areas
25
Programs Cont.

• Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
  Malaria

• Collects money and distributes around the world
  to fight these
• diseases

• Donated 109 million bed nets

• Delivered 264 million drug treatments for
  resistant malaria

• Donated 200 million dollars to the regions for
  other treatments

• Most money comes from the UN

26
What Needs to be Done?

• The poverty is what needs to be alleviated

• Nations and organizations need to give money to
  help give relief to the regions

• Better medicines must be developed

• A vaccine is being produced but is not yet as
  far as they want it

• More awareness for the people

• Need to know the best way to treat malaria and
  how to prevent it

27
What Villagers Know About Cholera

• Villagers know a lot about cholera

• They know what it exactly it is, where it comes
  from, and its
• side effects

• If sick, they go to a treatment center

• Few said they would try and treat it at home

• Dont know the best ways to keep from getting
  the disease

28
Cholera Prevention

• Make sure water is purified

• Be clean and wash hands before eating or after
  visiting toilets

• More improved toilets

• Proper disposal of waste and garbage

• Protection and proper management of water
  sources

• Report any type of outbreak

• If sick go to the hospital promptly

29
Why no Water Treatment?

• 63.8 say that think the water is safe

• 15.9 say that they arent used to boiling the
  drinking water

• 10.1 say they cant afford to boil the water

• 5.8 say they dont have the utensils to boil it

• 2.9 say boiling the water is tiresome

• 1.5 say they fear losing the taste of water

30
Example of a Program

• Malaria Outbreak in November of 2005

• Thousands became sick within days

• Ghana Red Cross and Red Crescent teamed with
  Ghanas government

• Train 250 people to educate the population
  about malaria and prevention

• From November 30, 2005 to January 31, 2006

31
Results

• Split into different regions and told to visit
  at least 25
• households over a 3 day period

• Over 15,000 leaflets were given to citizens

• Radio stations broadcasted information to people

• Homes, public toilets, and drainage systems
  were all disinfected

• 343,442 people reached during this people