Malaria was once though to be caused by breathing in foul swamp gases: the name is from the Italian "mala" - bad - and "aria", air. Swamps are indeed a cause, but because they are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which spread the malaria parasite from person to person through their bite. Some 500 million people of all ages fall ill from malaria every year, and one million, mostly children under five and pregnant women, die from the disease. In the Ugandan area of Katine, malaria is common and contributes to 23% of deaths. In spite of its familiarity, many people are unaware of its causes, the symptoms to look out for and how to treat it. If it is caught early, there is less chance that severe, life-threatening disease will develop. Bed-nets, treated with insecticide, offer proven protection from mosquito bites, which are at their worst after dark, but few people in Katine have them.Read the rest on malaria in Katine here. You should also look at the other sections of this case study as it can be used for Higher Development and Health as well as Int 2.
Water is a lottery
Whether you have access to safe water is a lottery. Eighteen villages in the district have no water whatever and everyone must walk miles a day. Ten out of 14 primary schools have no easy access to safe water and some are acutely short. "We know we should always boil it, but we don't always", said Joyce Abuko who we found collecting water. "It's not good water, but we have no choice. When it rains the soil gets in. If we drink it we get stomach aches and diarrhoea, many people fall sick, especially the children", she said.
"There's another well five kilometres away. It's cleaner but you can't always get there if you have a lot of children. Sometimes we boil the water but not always. There's lots of malaria and we've had cholera, too. We mainly use this one now for washing and cooking. Perhaps 200 people use this one", she says. But what horrifies the people of Katine most are the worms at the bottom of well. Some are orange and four inches long and others are more like tapeworms and are almost translucent. There are indeterminate microscopic ones, too. The villagers say they have to be very careful not to scoop them out. Some people filter them though leaves and grasses, but they say they do not always succeed. Life revolves around water, says Ms Abuko. "Every person needs about 30 litres of water a day, so the whole family is mobilised to collect it. Some people have to go miles; we can spend five, six hours a day collecting it. Sometimes the queues are long and the well owners make you wait. We have to. Because of all the things that Katine needs, water is the most essential." Read about this here and watch the video here.
Whether you have access to safe water is a lottery. Eighteen villages in the district have no water whatever and everyone must walk miles a day. Ten out of 14 primary schools have no easy access to safe water and some are acutely short. "We know we should always boil it, but we don't always", said Joyce Abuko who we found collecting water. "It's not good water, but we have no choice. When it rains the soil gets in. If we drink it we get stomach aches and diarrhoea, many people fall sick, especially the children", she said.
"There's another well five kilometres away. It's cleaner but you can't always get there if you have a lot of children. Sometimes we boil the water but not always. There's lots of malaria and we've had cholera, too. We mainly use this one now for washing and cooking. Perhaps 200 people use this one", she says. But what horrifies the people of Katine most are the worms at the bottom of well. Some are orange and four inches long and others are more like tapeworms and are almost translucent. There are indeterminate microscopic ones, too. The villagers say they have to be very careful not to scoop them out. Some people filter them though leaves and grasses, but they say they do not always succeed. Life revolves around water, says Ms Abuko. "Every person needs about 30 litres of water a day, so the whole family is mobilised to collect it. Some people have to go miles; we can spend five, six hours a day collecting it. Sometimes the queues are long and the well owners make you wait. We have to. Because of all the things that Katine needs, water is the most essential." Read about this here and watch the video here.
Read about primary classes in Katine with 91 pupils per teacher! Many girls don’t finish primary school because they are orphaned from Aids or other diseases or they get pregnant. Watch the video here.
Read this about Amref— the African Medical and Research Foundation and the aid it carries out here. One of their aims is to continue with the primary health care programme which does the following:
Train community vaccinators for childhood immunisation.
· Distribute bednets to protect against malaria.
· Train traditional birth attendants.
· Improve the labs and train health workers and technicians in the diagnosis of HIV/Aids, TB and malaria.
· Train clinic management to improve the supply of essential medicines and lab supplies
Ensure village health teams get home malaria treatment packs, condoms, drug storage kits and a bicycle
Watch also the video on the issues in the village. Farm-Africa is a non-governmental organisation that works with poor people in rural Africa. · Farm-Africa homepage: farmafrica.org.uk Watch the video on farming in Africa and the Farm Africa Aid project here
Train community vaccinators for childhood immunisation.
· Distribute bednets to protect against malaria.
· Train traditional birth attendants.
· Improve the labs and train health workers and technicians in the diagnosis of HIV/Aids, TB and malaria.
· Train clinic management to improve the supply of essential medicines and lab supplies
Ensure village health teams get home malaria treatment packs, condoms, drug storage kits and a bicycle
Watch also the video on the issues in the village. Farm-Africa is a non-governmental organisation that works with poor people in rural Africa. · Farm-Africa homepage: farmafrica.org.uk Watch the video on farming in Africa and the Farm Africa Aid project here
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