Hi I am a Medical Doctor and Public Health Personnel who is passionate about health promotion in Africa. I strongly believe a lot of money would be saved by individuals and the government by empowering individuals with the right information to live healthier lives.
Transparent, tasteless and odourless, water is one of the most important substances on the Earth. Whether for drinking, bathing, cooking or washing, water is refreshing and quite indispensable.
Water is the major constituent of the fluids of living things. Science tells us that the earth is made up of about 70% water. Amazingly, humans are also made up of largely water. Babies are made up of about 78% water; adult men are made up of about 68%; while the bodies of adult women contain about 55% water.Many people take drinking of water for granted, but staying hydrated has a huge impact on health.
The unique chemical and physical properties of water are essential to human survival. Without water, cells within the human body will die, breathing, digestion and muscle movement will be greatly impaired. Some of the benefits of drinking water include:
Drinking water helps keep body fluids in balance. These body fluids are important for digestion, absorption, circulation and maintenance of body temperature.
Water aids constipation. Drinking warm water in the morning on an empty stomach can help to make bowel movement easier and help foods pass smoothly through the small intestine.
Water helps flush the body of toxins, thus cleansing the body. It is therefore important that we drink water (preferable warm water) first thing in the morning.
Water alleviates pain. Warm water can help lessen pain; from menstrual pain to headaches.
Water can help shed excess pounds/ control the number of calories you take in. Drinking warm water in the morning helps to increase the rate of metabolism, which in turn allows the body to burn more calories.
Ways by which you can improve your fluid intake include:
Drink warm water when you wake up in the morning.
Drink water before and after meals.
Eat more fruits and vegetables. Their water content will help boost your hydration. Fruits like tomatoes, cucumbers etc are particularly very helpful.
Try carry a bottle of water around with you when you go out.
Choose water instead of sugar sweetened beverages. This can also help with weight management.
So you see, water is your friend! Drink a lot of water today for a healthier body.
In this day and age we have been focusing our attention on power consumption and energy efficiency which is good but the next thing we should turn our attention to right now is what we do to our looming water crises.
We live in a digital world today with a lot of ‘tech’ companies which consumes thousands of gallons of water per day; we are going to run out of water long before we run out of crude oil. Agriculture accounts for 70% of all water use compared with 22% for industry and just 8% for domestic users says the UN (United Nations) so therefore the scarcity of water is going to bring instability in countries posing a threat to their national security and risk to global food supply because of the rapid depletion of ground water (IMF,2015; UN,2011).
Over 97% of the worlds water is locked in its oceans, of this 2.5% is fresh water, almost 70% is locked away in glaciers and ice caps and about 1% is in lakes, rivers and other surface water sources (IMF, 2015). The remaining 30% is ground water some of it so ancient and hard to replace and which is very important for agriculture. An estimated 2 billion people rely on ground water for drinking and irrigating crops but its use often unregulated and poorly monitored, this means more is pumped out than it can be replenished when it rains. According to a study led by Jay Famiglietti of the University of California he says ground water levels in the U.S around California central valley farming area have been declining rapidly between 2003 and 2010, a volume of water almost equal to that in the country’s largest reservoir lake mead (IMF,2015; Future Directions,2015; Schiffle, 2004).
Desalination is a way we are going to solve water scarcity as I said earlier out of 97% of water on earth just 2.5% is fresh water we use and 70% locked in glaciers and ice, that means we have 25%of salty water to unlock for humanity which we can achieve with desalination plants because the largest % of water on earth is salt water. Desalination is the process of removing dissolved salts from water, thus producing fresh water from seawater or brackish water. This is a more intelligent use of water which is a success in some countries like Israel and Singapore (IMF,2015; UN,2011) .
Why Desalination Might Face Barriers in Africa
The presence of weak water utilities, politically determined low tariffs, high water losses and poor sector policies mean that desalinated water, just like any other new source of bulk water, may not be used wisely or that plants are at risk of falling into disrepair. Under these conditions, there is also a risk that substantial amounts of money are going to be used inefficiently. It may be preferable not to engage in desalination on a huge scale unless the core issues are seriously addressed. A way to address these weaknesses should include a reduction of non-revenue water; appropriate cost recovery; limited use of targeted subsidies; sound investment planning; integrated water resources management; proper environmental impact assessments; and capacity building in desalination as well as in water resources management and utility management. In any case, desalination should remain the last remedy, and should only be applied after having carefully considered cheaper alternatives in terms of supply and demand management. A second option could be privatization which can play a useful and important role in funding and operating desalination plants, but only if the above conditions are met. If these conditions are absent, there is a risk that unnecessary investments in desalination become a drain to the national budget, either directly under public financing or indirectly through private financing (Future Directions,2015; Schiffle, 2004).
For more information please contact Engr.Udofia (udofiaken@gmail.com)
References
Futuredirections,. ‘Desalination: A Viable Answer To Deal With Water Crises?’. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 June 2015.
Imf,. ‘Managing Water Challenges, Presentation By David Lipton, First Deputy Managing Director, IMF’. N.p., 2015. Web. 12 June 2015.
Schiffle, Manuel. ‘Perspectives And Challenges For Desalination In The 21St Century’. N.p., 2004. Web. 12 June 2015.
The movement towards free universal primary education in the last two decades has helped increase access to education for all social classes in Nigeria however, gender equality is not just about education. In the video we discussed some of this issues. Please watch and share your thoughts.
About Speaker:
Miss Morolake Elijah is a microbiologist and a Public Health (Msc) Student in the University of South Wales. For further inquires or if you desire to have her speak at conferences please contact elijahmorolake@yahoo.com.
Petroleum Scarcity has a wide reaching impact on every sector of the economy especially in countries like Nigeria where petroleum products are greatly relied upon as a source of fuel to generate power needed to run the country. Some of the sectors that might be worst hit by this scarcity include transportation, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, communication, industry and commerce. These sectors, directly and indirectly affect the determinants of health thereby impacting greatly on the complete physical, mental and social well-being of individuals and communities residing in that country (Field, 2011). Three interdependent pillars: economic, socio-political and environmental help shape individual well-being in every society. Scarcity of petroleum products will greatly affect these pillars. In the words of Horton (2007) “Energy is a critical, yet hugely neglected determinant of human health.
How does petroleum scarcity affect public health?
Transportation: The transportation infrastructure in Nigeria is exclusively built around fossil fuels. Cars, buses and airplanes required for the transportation of persons, goods and services for either personal or commercial purposes from one place to another are all powered by one petroleum product or another. In a nation where individuals live far away from their daily destinations of work, lack of access to transportation for commuting greatly affects the health of individuals. Observations has shown that limited access to transportation caused by scarcity of petroleum products to power vehicles creates health inequalities in the form of decreased access to education, employment, health facilities, food and opportunities for recreational activities which affect mental health. Also, an increase in the cost of transporting agricultural products will lead to an increase in the cost of living which many individuals may not be able to afford (Schwartz et al, 2011; Howard Frumkin, 2009).
Healthcare accessibility and delivery: For common healthcare needs and in times of crises, healthcare facilities are the communities’ life support system. Transport for patients, staff, services and supplies are heavily dependent on petroleum. Individuals need to transport patients seeking medical assistance to health facilities, healthcare providers need to transport themselves to the health facilities where they cater to the health-needs of individuals and communities, ambulances are needed to transport sick or injured patients to hospitals, hospitals require combustion of petroleum for power to be generated and public health services and outreaches need power in order to be conducted. All of the above activities require significant use of petroleum so the importance of petroleum in accessing health needs cannot be overemphasized (WHO, 2015; Schwartz et al, 2011; Howard Frumkin, 2009). In hospitals, patients’ lives rely on and are supported by various health monitoring systems which if interrupted can translate to loss of lives. With the state of the country’s power supply, backup generators are a necessity to ensure that services remain up and running.
Pharmaceutical and food processing industry: In Nigeria, this industry is heavily reliant on petroleum to provide uninterrupted power supply for processing, storage and preservation of products which usually have short life span. The advent of petroleum scarcity can lead to spoilage, contamination and damage of products worth a lot. The scarcity can also lead to an increase in production costs which will eventually result to an increase in the cost of food, drugs and other related commodities from this industry(WHO, 2015).
Unhealthy behaviors: Fuel scarcity is almost seen as survivor of the fittest, getting fuel from any source possible as well. With the advent of petroleum scarcity in the country, a niche has been created for certain individuals who sell petroleum products in the “black market”. These individuals buy large quantities of petroleum from filling stations, hoard the product at their houses or other unregulated locations and sell at very exorbitant prices. The public health implication of the above is that these products are not stored in safe and controlled environments and can result in fires which cause injury, claim lives and properties.
Mental health: The scarcity can contribute to mental health problems as it reduces people’s access to education, employment and social and recreational activities. Mental health issues can also be compounded by missed appointments, poor service delivery and increased cost of transportation to name a few. Most entrepreneurs have had to reduce their opening times or completely short down petroleum consuming services, this could increase stress level which is a predisposing factor to stress related illnesses.
Food scarcity: Nutrition is a very critical determinant of the state of a nation’s health. Modern agriculture is very dependent on petroleum. With the advent of mechanized farming, between 50-80% of activities rely on petroleum. These activities range from the cultivation of crops, to harvesting, processing, storage and transportation of finished products to markets. The effects of the scarcity on agriculture will be a drop in production; wastage as products are either not harvested early or harvested produce spoil due to poor storage and processing; and inability of products to reach markets. The resulting effect is food scarcity and higher prices for food limiting the nutritional choice of individuals and communities (Field,2011). The bright side is that while the scarcity lasts, the number of vehicles emitting gases harmful to health and the atmosphere reduce drastically as less people are not able to use their vehicles; the number of road transport mishaps reduces; noise, air, water and soil pollution also reduce too. With the sedentary lifestyle people have adopted and their over dependence on vehicles to move from one location to another, the petroleum scarcity will lead to an increase in physical activities as people will be forced to rely less on their vehicles.
References
Field, Mike. ‘Tough Oil: Five Public Health Challenges Of Petroleum Scarcity’. Resilience. N.p., 2011. Web. 31 May 2015.
Horton, William S. ‘The Influence Of Partner-Specific Memory Associations On Language Production: Evidence From Picture Naming’. Language and Cognitive Processes 22.7 (2007): 1114-1139. Web. 31 May 2015.
Howard Frumkin, Stephen Vindigni. ‘Energy And Public Health: The Challenge Of Peak Petroleum’.Public Health Reports 124.1 (2009): 5. Web. 31 May 2015.
Schwartz, Brian S. et al. ‘Public Health And Medicine In An Age Of Energy Scarcity: The Case Of Petroleum’. Am J Public Health 101.9 (2011): 1560-1567. Web. 31 May 2015. WHO,. ‘SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH SECTORAL BRIEFING SERIES 5’. N.p., 2015. Web. 31 May 2015.
The Nigerian senate has passed violence against persons Prohibition Bill, which seeks to prohibit female circumcision, harmful widowhood practices.This is wonderful and well celebrated, however Female Genitalia Mutilation (FGM) goes far beyond a bill and dealing with it from the ground up.
What is FGM?
It refers to procedures that intentionally alter or cause injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
It is usually carried out on young girls between infancy and the age of 15, most commonly before puberty starts.
The procedure is traditionally carried out by a woman with no medical training. Anesthetics and antiseptic treatments are not generally used, and the practice is usually carried out using knives, scissors, scalpels, pieces of glass or razor blades. Girls may have to be forcibly restrained.
There are four main types of FGM:
Type 1 – removing part or all of the clitoris.
Type 2 – removing part or all of the clitoris and the inner labia (lips that surround the vagina), with or without removal of the labia majora (larger outer lips).
Type 3 –narrowing of the vaginal opening by creating a seal, formed by cutting and re-positioning the labia.
Other harmful procedures to the female genitals, which include pricking, piercing, cutting, scraping and burning the area.
Why is it done?
FGM is carried out for cultural, religious and social reasons within families and communities. It is a right of passage into adulthood. Often used as a way to control women’s sexuality, the practice is closely associated with girls’ marriageability. Mothers chose to subject their daughters to the practice to protect them from being ostracized, beaten, shunned, or disgraced.
Long Term Complication.
chronic vaginal and pelvic infections
abnormal periods
difficulty passing urine, and persistent urine infections
kidney impairment and possible kidney failure
damage to the reproductive system, including infertility
cysts and the formation of scar tissue
complications in pregnancy and newborn deaths
pain during sex and lack of pleasurable sensation
psychological damage, including low libido, depression and anxiety
flashbacks during pregnancy and childbirth
the need for later surgery to open the lower vagina for sexual intercourse and childbirth
A Community Led Approach
Nigeria, due to her large population, has the highest absolute number of female genital mutilation (FGM) worldwide, accounting for about one-quarter of the estimated 115–130 million circumcised women in the world.It is true that tradition and culture are important aspects of any society in helping to mold the views and behavioral patterns of the society; some traditions and cultural beliefs and practices like FGM are harmful and must be abolished. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to tackle this deep-rooted legendary practice of FGM. The process of social change in the community with a collective, coordinated agreement to abandon the practice “community-led approach” is therefore essential
The stages of community readiness model by Edward et al (2000) can be adopted to evaluate where FGM communities are with the issue.
Stage 1: No Awareness, there are some places that FGM is not perceived as a problem because it is seen as a NORM, to this group of people a bill has no effect because they have no reason to report the problem.
Stage 2: Denial, this group have a little information about the consequences of FGM, but have no motivation to act or they believe nothing can be done
Stage 3: Vague Awareness. this is a quite interesting group, because they are aware that it is a problem, they are aware they can change it however there is the fear to start the change. To this group turning their backs on what has long time been the NORM is seen wrong.
Stage 4 to 6: Pre-planning,Preparation and Initiation is the crucial part as it involves community leaders, healthcare workers and the community itself. This is where proper education should be done, this stage should be handled by professional and influential persons in the community. Perceived barriers should be identified and resources made available, in this stage the health promotion team should put every effort into details about the community because every community is different.The power of cultural and social norms over the individual should not be underestimated, as adherence to these can take precedence over personal intuitions and recognition that continuing the procedure has potential health implications.
My Health promotion ideas:
1. A catchy slogan: Let the people choose, it could be in their language.
2. Involve schools: Let the children know about it, create groups for those children who have had it done to them to tell their stories, this helps educate the others about it, emphasis on why it is not good. Teach them the slogan and how to say NO.
3. Educate Women groups: if the community has women meeting, health promoters should get involved and have target driven messages, explaining its dangers. Teach the women to stand up for the next generation, they might get Health promoters connected to the traditional FGM person
4. Community and Religious Leaders : The leader has a much needed voice, his opinion is vital in the process of FGM eradication. Meetings should be set up and proper education should be given.
5 Health Care Workers: It is important they know how to identify a FGM victim, but more importantly how to handle such situation. Counselling the child and the mother is important as well as reporting the case to the concerned authorities
6. FGM Help Centers: There should be centers where children and parent can find refuge I suggest communities with high FGM cases should have one.
References
Brown, Katherine, David Beecham, and Hazel Barrett. ‘The Applicability Of Behaviour Change In Intervention Programmes Targeted At Ending Female Genital Mutilation In The EU: Integrating Social Cognitive And Community Level Approaches’. Obstetrics and Gynecology International2013 (2013): 1-12. Web. 6 May 2015.
McCulloch, S. ‘Community Development Approaches: A Case For Female Genital Mutilation (FGM)’. N.p., 2015. Web. 6 May 2015.
Okeke, TC, USB Anyaehie, and CCK Ezenyeaku. ‘An Overview Of Female Genital Mutilation In Nigeria’. Ann Med Health Sci Res 2.1 (2012): 70. Web. 6 May 2015.
In honor of World Malaria Day (25/04/2015), we partnered with O&A clinic in Abeokuta to increase awareness against the disease.
About 3.2 billion people which represent almost half of the world’s population are at risk of malaria. Increased prevention and control measures have led to a reduction in malaria mortality rates by 47% globally since 2000 and by 54% in the WHO African Region. It is important that people are aware of prevention and the how to .
We went to Asero High School,spoke with the student and teachers on what they can do as a school and a community.
The theme for this World Malaria day was Many Voices , a single Theme
We had a workshop where got students teamed up and provided different strategies to preventing the complete cycle of malaria. The two major preventive classes were focused on: 1. The benefits of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) and how to use it effectively. 2. Indoor residual spraying (IRS) and larval source management. It was interesting to find that not many knew what a LLIN was or how to use it in their room, some even used it as a cover cloth which shows that it is important to teach rather than just handing out free nets to communities. The second class was absolutely new to the students as they had never heard of it before. So for the sake of this blog I would explain better.
Indoor Residual Spraying: This is the application of long lasting residual insecticide to potential resting surfaces of the vector such as windows, ceiling and internal walls. This method reduces vector density and longevity, it should however be noted that this method alone is not an effective prevention as it is more effective with LLINs. Some factors that influence the success of IRS includes epidemiology, socio-economic, vector characteristic, environment and ecology It is also skill based therefore it is important that proper education is given to households. If properly evaluated, this could be very successful in reducing malaria related mortality.
Below are some of the pictures from our outreach. We would like to say thank you to O&A Clinic and Asero High School for their support.
References
Defeatmalaria,. ‘Invest In The Future Defeat Malaria’. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.
We live in a culture oriented world, different parts of the world have different values, ideas and beliefs. This transcends to their perception of health: cause, treatment and prevention.
What is culture?
It is defined as the combination of attitudes, customs, and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another.
How does it affect health?
From the definition of culture we have three important nouns: attitude, customs and belief and each word influence health in one way or the other. There are evidence to suggest that cultural norms within societies contribute to lifestyles and behaviors associated with risk factors for chronic diseases. For instance how can I effectively promote healthy eating if the core cultural food products are filled with unsafe amounts of fats? or how can I ensure exclusive breastfeeding if a culture informs a mother to give water alongside breast milk
The truth is until we fully understand culture of communities our health policies and intervention would not be effective and sustainable.
What is the way forward?
1. Identification of core beliefs and ideas: This can be collected in form of questionnaires, individual interviews and focus groups.
2. Cultural Negotiation: I call this testing waters, before a big change can happen the target group must be ready and open to it. In cultural negotiation you are presenting evidence based ideas but with the goal of joining it with their beliefs. It is taking them from where they are to where they need to be. A good way is asking if they notice certain side effect from their proposed method they are used to, if they do that would be a perfect time to inform them of a better way.
3.Matching these cultural characteristics with public health interventions: This takes into account language, reading levels, cultural themes or metaphors used in health messages
4. Identifying barriers to change: For an intervention to be successful it is wise to walk in the shoes of the target group, this helps understand what the perceived barriers to actions might be.
.
The health promotion model above shows that each person has unique personal characteristics and experiences that affect their actions. Some of these characteristic and experience are acquired through cultural influences . The health promoting behavior is the desired outcome at the end of the specific health promotion intervention. This desired outcome should result in improved health, enhanced functional ability and better quality of life however it is influenced by the perceived benefits, perceived barriers,interpersonal influences and situational influences which can derail an intended outcome.
5.Constant assessment of the effectiveness of the intervention : This identifies immediate and practical changes needed, clarify what is useful,current beliefs and includes cost and benefits of each step.
References
Glazier, R. H. et al. ‘A Systematic Review Of Interventions To Improve Diabetes Care In Socially Disadvantaged Populations’. Diabetes Care 29.7 (2006): 1675-1688. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
Pender, Nola. Theoretical Foundations of Nursing. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
Stephen B. Thomas, Said A. Ibrahim. ‘Health Disparities: The Importance Of Culture And Health Communication’. American Journal of Public Health 94.12 (2004): 2050. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
Tripp-Reimer, T. et al. ‘Cultural Barriers To Care: Inverting The Problem’. Diabetes Spectrum 14.1 (2001): 13-22. Web. 28 Mar. 2015.
Promote Health Africa (PHA) 