As citizens of the United States of America, we are all entitled to the most basic health benefits, such as medicine or clean facilities. We are fortuante to have such benefits since different parts of the world are lacking even the basic needs. I recently came across an article about an outbreak of cholera that is affecting West Africa. About 800 Nigerians, including children, have died in just two months of this epidemic. Not only that but because of the rain, it is spreading the infection to other neighboring countries like Cameroon and Chad. Want to know what the sad part is? This could have have all been avoidable by simple clean facilities and clean water. However sanitation is extremly awful in nearly the entire continent, save a few cities. The effects of Chlorea are quite hideous: it causes diarrhea, which in turn causes the infected person to become dehydrated and maybe even result in death. It will most likely continue to sicken and kill more people if government officals aren't doing anything to stop it. Here's a fact that you might want to know: Nigeria, which has half the population of the United States (150 million if you don't know), makes billions of dollars from oil exporting, yet half of its population (75 million) are lacking clean and sanitation. Hold up, wait a minute, could this be why chlorea is easily spreading all over West Africa? Why, it seems to be the case. It is quite amazing to learn that this isn't the first time Nigeria has dealt with such a monstrous epidemic. Back in 1991, more 7,600 people died from a deadly breakout. That's right you read correctly, more than 7,600! Now imagine all these deaths, infections and such and place it some country that is not in Africa, oh say the United States. If such a thing ever happened, everyone would be freaking out, the coverage will be the top news every morning, day and night, nationally and internationally. Like suicide bomb attacks, we are so use to hear about epidemic and death in Africa that is has become the norm. God knows what locals are feeling over West Africa. Here is the link from the AP article about the deadly breakout.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jz2In1zImIbezS40D5pXN9sDz2AAD9I550F80
Your post reminds me of Jamie's post about children begging in Senegal: it points out how people become used to seeing poverty and disease in one place and somehow become immune to it. I loved the comparison you made between the US and West Africa. It shows how the media doesn't really help the situation by ignoring it and thus making it seem unimportant. Maybe promoting awareness would help the population of these countries.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up a really important issue here and your contrasting the situation with how it would be handled in the USA is great. (e.g., Not too many people got sick before 4 million eggs got recalled).
ReplyDeleteThe other issue is climate. These torrential rains caused massive flooding and devastation before cholera became the icing on the cake. The combination of bad weather and bad government is tragic.
Here's more on the rains: http://allafrica.com/stories/201009080264.html
I really appreciate that you compared the U.S to Nigeria, it shows how we as a country are so used to hearing about devastation in other parts of the world but it doesn't really "hit home" because it doesn't quite involve us directly. I really hope that some one takes a stand really soon in Nigeria over this matter because if not this will do nothing but take over most of the continent itself.
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me a lot about an issue addressed by my social justice teacher in high school. In class we watched Hotel Rwanda. THe Rwandan Genocide was pretty widely publicized worldwide, and especially in the U.S. What was found to happen though was that people would watch the news while at the dinner table. They would see the horror that was taking place in Rwanda and hear the peoples cry for help. This would result in people saying "Wow, that's so tragic. The government should do something." But as soon as they walked away from the televisions and newspaper, the genocide was 'out of sight, out of mind.'
ReplyDeleteI think this plus the desensitization of the problems plaguing Africa are adding to a lack of overall awareness and concern by outside countries and people.