We talked in class on Tuesday about some of the most severe
health threats facing developing countries. This article deals with the growing
cholera problem in Haiti. Food and water contaminated by human feces can spread
cholera. The disease was introduced to the island only 18 months ago, likely
via United Nations Peace keeping troops from Nepal. This is a huge problem,
especially in Port-au-Prince, where, despite being a city the size of Chicago,
there is no sanitation system or sewage infrastructure. Thus, canals throughout
the city are filled with human waste and trash and clean water is a rare
commodity.
A sliver of hope lies in the nation’s new (and first)
sewage treatment facility. A plant, set
to open soon, was built to handle the entire city’s output. The waste will be
detoxified and used as agricultural compost. Toilets are also being added at
schools in the city. The money to pursue these sanitation practices is coming
from the post-quake funds from the Spanish government. Surprisingly, there is
some resistance (or apathy) from Haitians who don’t feel like sanitation is an
important goal. Sanitation in the country has actually declined over the last
20 years, and it isn’t part of the citizen’s mentality.
Improving sanitation will help stop disease on a local,
regional and global level. Locally, it is important to educate citizens on the
importance of sanitation and its ties to disease. Regionally and on a national
level, infrastructure—like sewage systems—is crucial, especially in such a
large city. In addition to the infrastructure upgrades, there is currently a push
to vaccinate Haitians with the cholera vaccine. However this plan has been
criticized as a distraction from the deeper infrastructure problems. I agree to
an extent. Vaccines will help people, but creating the infrastructure to
stop the spread of disease is more important and will benefit those with and
without the resources to be vaccinated. Infrastructure will also aid the next
generations, rather than relying on a steady input of vaccine. What would you propose as solutions to Haiti’s
disease issues? Do you think that vaccines are a practical approach? Is it
troubling to you that the infrastructure upgrades are funded by foreign
sources?
Rafiki brings up an excellent point about the need for a change in Haiti's infrastructure in order to really address health issues like the cholera outbreak. Like we have discussed in class, the health concerns are current and so something must be done to address the immediate needs of the population like providing vaccines. Proper sanitation infrastructure, however, will (hopefully) help stop the spread of cholera and other diseases, thus eliminating the need for temporary, more immediate solutions. I am curious, though, as to what will be done to clean up the canals. Sanitation and sewage systems are great but not as effective if people continue to live along and use contaminated water for daily activities. I also think education programs about the benefits of implementing this sort of infrastructure is necessary since sewage & sanitation are fairly new concepts in places like Haiti. This would help reduce civilian resistance to these changes.
ReplyDeleteHaiti is a country so impoverished that i am not surprised that sanitation is not high on their list of concerns. I have read about seeming horror stories of real life where mud is mixed with flour and shortening and whatever else might be available because food resources are so scarce. below is an article from national geographic that details this. When people are so impoverished that they must eat dirt to survive, we can hardly expect them to be placing sanitation or a sewer system very high on their agenda, i suppose this reverts back to the psychological theory of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, however, it is very encouraging that the sewage waste will be used as agricultural compost, that is an innovation that would be beneficial across the board and that the U.S. should consider if possible. We use so many petroleum based fertilizers to enrich our soil and yet almost every time we flush our toilets or take out trash containing non recyclable waste we could be composting much of that material and the value being cast aside is converted into a public health concern that breeds high e-coli counts in our fresh water and creates garbage dumps sites for waste that is more useful the we realize. i think some structural changes could certainly be made to our sewage systems and waste disposal practices, and i wonder if what they plan to do in Haiti does not illustrate a better alternative. I was initially worried of who would be building the sewage system and who would be profiting but it appears that it is leftover quake relief money from the Spanish, and perhaps it will be source of jobs that will contribute to economic stability in the region. One hopes.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080130-AP-haiti-eatin.html
The comparison to Chicago is compelling; it is difficult to imagine what Chicago would be like without any sanitation system or sewage infrastructure. Water is such a fundamental part of life, and a lack of clean water is not only an immense problem in itself, but it has so many other effects such as the spread of cholera that is discussed in the article. It is encouraging that a sewage treatment plant has been built; while such extreme conditions can act as catalysts that spur action to reverse the problem, they can just as easily create an overwhelming sense of despair that instead perpetuates the issues at hand. This is perhaps the sentiment that is being expressed by the more “apathetic” Hatians who are so used to the way of life that percolates through the entire city. While this solution may be to a degree evasive with respect to deeper infrastructure problems, it is a step in the right direction. Those problems certainly need to be addressed in order to assure improvement in a more permanent and long-term sense, but sometimes immediate, more short-term, solutions are necessary when so many lives are at stake.
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