|
Mozambique has one of the highest child mortality rates
in the world: 246 out of every 1 000 live births die
before the age of five. Thirteen per cent of these
deaths are directly attributable to lack of access to
clean water and proper sanitation, and to poor hygiene
practices. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
warned that thousands are at risk because of cholera,
and infections caused by dirty water and inadequate
sanitation.
Cholera is still endemic in parts of the country, with
regular outbreaks especially in urban and peri-urban
areas. The disease, which thrives in filthy, stagnant
water, mainly poses a threat to children. Over the past
nine months 12 433 people have been treated for cholera,
and 109 people have died. Mozambique’s Prime Minister
Joachim Chissano declared that despite all the advances
in medicine over the past 50 years, "The disease burden
in the developing world remains unacceptably high."
Speaking at a conference on health financing he
emphasised the relationship between poverty and ill
health, and warned, "While health services can be
effective in preventing disease, premature death and
disability, permanent solutions to the problems
affecting health can only be found by attacking their
underlying causes."
A survey conducted in November 2002 showed that only
35%
of households living in affected areas were able to
access water sources in 15 minutes. Chores like fetching
water place a heavy burden on children, particularly
girls, preventing many of them from attending school.
Nearly
11% of the households in areas affected by
cholera are headed by children or elderly people, or
have a chronically sick adult living with them. These
struggling families are especially vulnerable to
water-borne diseases as malnourished children have weak defences against the ravages of diarrhoea. In rural
areas, only 26% of the population have access to clean
water, while 29% have access to adequate sanitation.
Chissano called for, "A balance between efforts to
control high profile communicable diseases in the short
term, and the development of sustainable health systems
that will be the vehicle for carrying the disease
control programmes in the longer term." He concluded
with a call, "To be pragmatic in the search for
solutions that work under certain conditions and to be
less prescriptive and ideological in our approach.”
To help alleviate the crisis, UNICEF has been running
programmes to reduce the number of infant deaths due to
diarrhoea, and reduce the time spent finding clean
water. UNICEF has also provided the government's public
works department with funds and chlorine for emergency
water treatment, and has implemented massive hygiene
promotion campaigns. Projects supporting the government
include developing a national water policy, educating
the public on sanitation practices, increasing the
availability of parts to repair water points,
strengthening emergency preparedness and responses and
developing school hygiene programmes. UNICEF is
advocating for the government to focus on these basic
social services and allocate more of its budget to them.
The organisation has noted that the Mozambican
government can make a huge difference in the health of
its people by allocating more funds to improving overall
sanitation facilities in the country. One of the UN
Millennium Development Goals is to reduce by half the
proportion of people without sustainable access to safe
drinking water by 2015. |
