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African Health Issues

African Health Issues. African Health Issues. Famine, AIDS, and malaria are among Africa’s biggest health problems. Africa is a large continent with many Countries and 800 million people. It is also the poorest continent in the world. African Health Issues.

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African Health Issues

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  1. African Health Issues

  2. African Health Issues • Famine, AIDS, and malaria are among Africa’s biggest health problems. • Africa is a large continent with many Countries and 800 million people. • It is also the poorest continent in the world.

  3. African Health Issues • Africa had many natural resources before European colonization. • Today, however, there is widespread poverty throughout Africa. • Many health problems are caused or made worse by poverty. • Poverty creates poor living conditions, such as lack of clean water or food.

  4. African Health Issues • People living in poor conditions often get sick. • They may live in crowded areas that are dirty. • They may not have doctors or medicine. • People living in poverty may not have the education to know how to stop the spread of disease.

  5. Famine in Africa • Famine occurs when a region does not have enough food for a long period of time. • People who are starving can die from malnutrition. • Famines are both human-made and natural. • Drought, or lack of rain, makes food scarce because crops die.

  6. Famine in Africa • Human forces, like wars, can also cause food shortages. • People in a region can be without food because its cost is too high. • All of these factors have led to famines in Africa.

  7. Famine in Africa • Famines in Africa today are the result of poor food distribution and poverty. • There is enough food on Earth for everyone to eat well. • However, many people live where they cannot grow food. • People also live where food cannot be easily transported.

  8. Famine in Africa • Many famines have taken place in the Horn of Africa. • The Horn of Africa is a large peninsula in the northeast region of the continent. • Famines in this region include the Ethiopian Famine of the mid-1980s, which is estimated to have killed over a million people. • This famine was made worse by high food prices and overpopulation,

  9. Famine in Africa • On the continent, the risk of famine is highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. • Today, Niger, southern Sudan, Somalia, and Zimbabwe are areas with emergency famine status. • Africa’s greatest humanitarian crisis is in Darfur, in western Sudan. • A humanitarian crisis is one in which many human lives are at risk in a region.

  10. Malaria in Africa • Malaria is a tropical disease spread by mosquitoes. • Each year, more than one million people die from malaria. • Children in Sub-Saharan Africa are most at risk of death from the disease. • For instance, malaria is the leading cause of death in children under five in Uganda.

  11. Malaria in Africa • There is no vaccine against malaria. • However, there are ways to reduce the spread of the disease. • Insecticides and mosquito nets can drastically lower the number of infections. • Anti-malaria drugs can also help, but they are very expensive.

  12. Malaria in Africa • Unfortunately many of the regions where the risk of malaria is highest are also poor. • People in these areas cannot afford to buy mosquito nets or insecticides to kill mosquitoes. • According to the World Health Organization malaria is a disease that is caused by poverty, and it’s a disease that also can lead to poverty.

  13. HIV and AIDS in Africa • The spread of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) due to infection by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the most severe health crisis in the world. • It is Considered a pandemic, awidespread epidemic HI V/AIDS attacks and destroys the body’s power to fight illness. • HIV/AIDS is spread through bodily fluids like blood, semen, and breast milk.

  14. HIV and AIDS in Africa • Africa has the highest rates of HIV infection in the world. • Seventeen million people have died from AIDS on the continent. • Over two-thirds of all HIV infections in the world are in Africa. • One-third of all AIDS deaths in the world in 2005 occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa.

  15. HIV and AIDS in Africa • AIDS/HIV is a major threat to the people of Africa. • The spread of AIDS lowers the life expectancy of entire populations. • Life expectancy is a measure of how long people can expect to live. • Over 12 million African children have been orphaned by AIDS.

  16. HIV and AIDS in Africa • There are drugs that slow down the progress of HIV infection to AIDS. • However, there is no cure for AIDS. Education and prevention are the most important tools for fighting AIDS. • Africa needs more money to pay for education and prevention programs.

  17. Health Issues • Health issues in Africa are made worse by unstable politics. • In turn, unstable politics contribute to poverty. • High death rates due to health crises weaken economies. • In this way, the issues of health, economics, and politics are intertwined.

  18. Summary • Explain how poverty, malaria and HIV/AIDS are a major problem in Africa. (include causes, effects and possible solutions)

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