Poor environment means poor health [Archives:2006/922/Health]
Amel Al-Ariqi
[email protected]
Three months ago, many citizens panicked after a local newspaper reported a family of six was taken to Al-Thawra Hospital in Sana'a suffering high fever, muscle and joint pain, stiffness, headache, delirium, cerebral disturbance and a dark red rash of elevated spots on the torso and shoulders, spreading to the rest of the body.
Dr. Abdulhafidh Al-Sulwi, Al-Thawra internal department director, confirmed the report, adding that a driver from Al-Hudeidah governorate arrived at the hospital experiencing the same symptoms. Al-Sulwi revealed that all patients were infected with typhus, which is transmitted by body lice and less commonly by head lice. According to Al-Sulwi, the disease is common among those living in unsanitary environments, as they are subjected to attacks by insects and rodents residing in exposed sewers spread throughout their neighborhoods.
Although the patients recovered, Al-Sulwi confirmed, most returned to live in the same environmental circumstances. “They constantly will be at risk for infections and diseases,” he warned.
Typhus was not the only disease mentioned by the press. Local press recently dispersed news stories of disease outbreaks in many Yemeni regions. Typhus, cholera, shigella (dysentery), polio and cancer were common diseases headlining many newspapers, which declared Ministry of Health negligence and asked for investigation of the reasons behind such outbreaks.
Al-Sulwi and other doctors called for considering environmental factors in any studies or invitations to discover problems and solutions to them.
Cholera or shigella?
Al-Jazeera Channel reported last month that 14 Yemeni children died due to cholera infection in Al-Jawf. Shortly thereafter, local press reported that 14 children died and 63 children experienced cholera symptoms in Al-Jawf governorate. According to local reports, the children suffered diarrhea and loss of water and salts in their stools.
A Ministry of Health official later confessed that nine children died; however, he insisted shigella caused their deaths, not cholera.
Whether they died from shigella or cholera, both diseases result from contamination. Medical studies show that the only means by which a person can be infected with cholera is through contaminated food or water. Therefore, disease prevention is a matter of sanitation.
The same is true of shigella, which is spread via contaminated food, water and milk. Feces from active cases – and those from healthy carriers as well – contain massive amounts of the disease-producing bacteria. Flies carry the bacteria on their feet, in their saliva and feces and deposit them on food. Ants also are believed to spread the disease.
Such information was confirmed by the ministry's Epidemic Control Department director, Dr. Abdul-Hakim Al-Kohlani, who said the dysentery was caused by dirty water and pollution. He pointed out that Yemeni citizens do not consider cleanliness of water resources or their children's food.
Cancer
Doctors at Al-Jumhury Hospital's cancer center revealed that 20,000 Yemenis are diagnosed annually with cancer, with more than 5,000 traveling abroad for treatment. Excessive use of insecticides in spraying fruits and vegetables, air pollution due to burning waste in populated regions and contaminated food and water are the main causes of lung cancer, gum cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer and skin cancer, which are very common among Yemeni cancer patients, according to cancer center studies.
Polio
Polio's reappearance in Yemen was a huge shock to many, particularly the World Health Organization (WHO) and Yemeni Ministry of Health experts, as Yemen was so close to being announced as a polio-free country. However, the discovery of 22 polio cases caused the ministry, in association with WHO, to instigate numerous vaccination campaigns to try to stop the disease's spread. Although doctors confirmed that the polio virus transferred to Yemen from Sudan, they also confirmed that children infected with polio all were living in unsanitary environments.
Medical research insists that the polio virus typically enters the body through the mouth, multiplying in the tonsils and lymph nodes of the upper respiratory tract. Infection proceeds from the mouth through the stomach to the gastrointestinal tract and into intestinal feces. The virus multiplies in the intestines and is shed from feces, often resulting in further infections. Improper waste disposal can lead to water supply contamination. Such infections, in turn, will spread the virus more widely.
Poor environment and lack of monitoring
A parliamentary report revealed that 55,000 children die annually due to water pollution-related diseases. The report, which warned of spreading contaminated water usage, confirmed that 50 percent of childhood death cases in Yemen are due to water pollution, 20 percent due to diarrhea and 30 percent due to malaria and typhoid.
The National Water Sector Strategy Investment Program (NWSSIP), reporting on the years 2000 through 2003, indicated that only 25 percent of rural populations have safe water access, while those with safe sanitation access are 20 percent. Many citizens use unsafe methods to get rid of waste, whether human or water waste, which leaks into the ground. The report said such behavior damages groundwater, Yemen's main water source, as well as public health.
The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) confirmed the above figures in its “Report on the State of the Environment in Yemen for the Year 2001.” According to the report, there were more than three million registered death cases in 2000 due to water pollution-related diseases, confirming that death occurs mostly among rural peoples, representing 77 percent of Yemen's population.
The EPA report also warned about random waste-disposal, noting that large amounts of waste and rubbish are thrown out without management or classification. Such waste is exposed to stray animals and insects who become diseases carriers.
The EPA report also referred to high health risks from air pollution, which is obvious in major cities like Sana'a, Aden, Taiz and Hudeidah, due to activities such as burning fossil fuels like gas, coal and oil for powering industrial processes and motor vehicles. Among harmful chemicals such burning releases into the atmosphere are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and tiny solid particles, including lead from gasoline additives.
The recent remarkable spread of epidemics and diseases in Yemen is considered a clear sign of environmental deterioration and vice versa. Therefore, many experts refer to the importance of considering environmental issues impacting health in order to promote public health in society.
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