I came upon this article while searching for current news stories about cholera as it would relate to the class as we recently learned about the cholera epidemic of 1854. The title of this article is “Cholera Epidemic Envelops Coastal Slums in West Africa” and it was written by Adam Nossiter from the New York Times on August 22nd, 2012. The full article can be found at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/23/world/africa/cholera-epidemic-envelops-coastal-slums-in-west-africa.html?_r=0 .
Nossiter writes about the cholera epidemic, which in August of this year, had been spreading through the coastal slums of West Africa. He says that this is “one of the worst regional outbreaks in years.”
This cholera outbreak has mainly hit Freetown and Conakry, the capitals of Sierra Leone and Guinea. As we know, cholera is transmitted through contact with contaminated feces, and this was made worse this year by the heavy rain season that flooded these poor towns. Two-thirds of the population does not obtain toilets, allowing cholera to easily spread through the poorly maintained towns.
The consequences on these West African communities are tragic. As of August of this year, more than 13,000 people had already been suffering from cholera’s painful symptoms and 250 to 300 had already died. In Sierra Leone, the government declared the cholera outbreak a national emergency.
The unsuccessful attempts to maintain the spread of this cholera outbreak are due to the countries’ lack of modern facilities. Sierra Leone is still recovering from a decade-long bloody civil war that sent thousands from rural areas into the city’s slums, and Guinea is recovering from a half-century of often cruel dictatorship.
Natasha Reyes Ticzon, a cholera field coordinator for Doctors without Borders in Freetown, stated, “They [the cholera victims] come barely conscious because they are severely dehydrated…We’ve had some deaths because they come too late.” These third-world countries lack access to clean medical facilities, thus making an epidemic like cholera devastating. One way in which some have attempted to slow the spread of the disease is through spraying chlorine on the houses of the diseased, yet while the poor conditions of each country remain, there is little hope of this outbreak ending soon.
Dr. Sakoba Keita, the Guinean government official in charge of fighting against diseases said, “Garbage collection is highly irregular. There are piles of garbage everywhere,” emphasizing the poor sanitary conditions in Sierra Leone and Guinea.
What caught my attention the most from this article was what Jane Bevan, a regional sanitation specialist for Unicef, said:
“If your area is flooded with rainwater, and if people are defecating in the open, it will get into the water supply. We know governments have the money for other things. I’m afraid sanitation is never given the priority it deserves.”
After reading this article, I felt terrible that countries that cannot obtain proper, sanitary facilities are at a higher risk for an outbreak of epidemic disease. As stated in the last quote of the article, the third world countries of Sierra Leone and Guinea simply do not have sanitation as a top priority because they are trying to catch up on other areas such as the economy and government. As a result, the lives of innocent people are not a top priority. I agree with Sierra Leone that this is a nationwide emergency. To me, I think it is very important that better-off countries aid third-world countries. With our modern technology, we can begin to end this horrible cholera outbreak.
I was amazed with how this current outbreak related to the cholera outbreak of 1854. Both outbreaks were caused by poor sanitation, specifically due to the disease spreading through the water supply. As John Snow in 1854 fought that the disease was spread through the contaminated water pumps on Broad Street in Soho, specialists in Sierra Leone and Guinea agreed the outbreak would not end if the countries did not begin to receive a cleaner water supply. As said before, modern countries should aid these countries. Just as the war heroes eradicated smallpox worldwide, I believe these horrible outbreaks of cholera can be prevented if another group of war heroes emerge to provide a cleaner, more sanitary lifestyle to these countries in need.
I think that this was a great topic to write about as we are currently learning about cholera. I completely agree with you Marissa that this is a horrible thing. For people not to have clean drinking water is ridiculous and not fair at all. I can definitely see why countries like Sierra Leon and Guinea have problems like this as the water runs right next to the houses which probably don't have indoor plumbing. I think that the World Health Organization needs to start trying to help third world countries like these catch up in the sanitary department. I feel like this would really help further these countries along and help the entire population as well.
ReplyDeleteThis article made me think a bit about third world countries. The line about piles of garbage everywhere really hit me, it's almost like conditions have gotten out of control and it's out of reach for all the people to try and help themselves. I though the way of preventing it was interesting with the chlorine...that cant be all that healthy either. Its very sad, the conditions and what these people have to go through just because they lack clean drinking water, something that we take great advantage of.
ReplyDeleteThis article is a good one and relates to class. As we just wrapped up our cholera unit I can understand how countries in Africa can have such a significant cholera outbreak. We learned that cholera is normally spread by drinking contaminated water that has the bacteria in it. A lot of third world countries such as Haiti, India and parts of Africa don't have access to a clean water source. We learned that Haiti is constantly having problems with cholera because they don't have a great supply of clean water. Also sanitation is a contributor to the cholera disease spreading because the bacteria has favorable grounds to grow. I think that other developed countries should intervene and send some clean water sources to third world countries so at least the inhabitants don't have to suffer from this rapid growing disease.
ReplyDeleteI agree a lot with Kelsie. There is so much filth and so many problems in these poorer countries that it is really unfortunate that these people can't even get clean water. Clean water should be a basic right that all humans have, as it is not fair that you receive a certain amount of water with a certain level of sanitation just based on what your geographical location is. Just because these people live in places where it is harder to get clean water, it does not mean that they should suffer because of something they cannot control. No one should feel like their life is not a priority.
ReplyDeleteThis article really opened my eyes to how fortunate we are to live in America. Because we are so fortunate we often times take things like having clean water for granted. I find it sad that there are people in this world who walk miles and miles each day to get water, while in the US we frequently waste water, taking 20 minute long showers or leaving the sink on while we brush our teeth. Its heart breaking that these poorer countries don’t have access to what we see as basic rights. As humans we need water to survive therefore it should be a basic right for everyone. No one should have to walk miles or dig deep in the ground in order to get water.
ReplyDeleteJust like Marissa, I can draw many parallels between London's cholera epidemic of 1854 and the epidemic running through the coastal slums of West Africa of modern day. As Marissa stated, garbage and junk is piled up in the streets and can be found everywhere. This statement really paints a picture that shows how poor and unsanitary the conditions are in these slums of West Africa. Our class learned that in 1854 many areas in London were full of trash and the streets were lined with garbage and excrement. One fact that stood out to me when learning about London’s epidemic was the description of the waste that piled up in the basements of people’s houses. This fact seemed to go along with Marissa’s statement about garbage and waste piling up in the streets of Africa; both demonstrate the dire situation that each country was facing. Just like London in 1854, West Africa does not have the money or resources to fix the situation, however, there are other countries that do have these resources and could help. The fact that we are letting people in modern day suffer from this horrific epidemic after we have already seen its devastating effects in London’s epidemic of 1854, is just repulsive.
ReplyDeleteMarissa, I commend you for writing this interesting post on a topic recently covered in class. I am not surprised that these nations, and many other like them are struggling heavily with cholera epidemics. This disease in particular spread like wildfire in the correct conditions. Sierra Leone and Guinea, being poor coastal nations, are very vulnerable to flooding and sanitation issues.
ReplyDeleteI found the fact that they use chlorine to sanitize infected houses intriguing. I wonder how these efforts have effected the spread of the epidemic, and if they are an effort by the governments, or just locals with access to the chemical.
While I find your comments on the possible control of future cholera epidemics intriguing, I respectfully disagree. Over 3 billion people around the world are in complete poverty. These people earn less than the USD equivalent of $2.50 a day, and their nation's economies are not doing much better than they are. Most of these people do not have proper sanitation services, and cholera epidemics are highly possible.
The "developed" nations of the world simply have neither the funds, nor the time to develop the sanitation systems of other nations. I believe that organizations such as UNICEF and the WHO are great benefits to these people, but do not think it is practical for first world nations to come to the rescue of roughly half of the world's population. Even in America we have about 15% of our population living under the poverty line. While these people have access to sanitation and clean drinking water (except after natural disasters) I believe that we need to solve our national issues before devoting billions of dollars to another nation's development.