Around the world there many preventable deaths yearly due to accidents,
lack of medical treatment or vaccines, lack of following safety protocols
and poverty. Kibera deals mainly with the issue of poverty. Imagine the
population of San Francisco, California squeezed into a square mile
[Smith, Gibson]; minus the Fire Department, Police, Electricity and a
dozen other public services; being the largest slum in Nirobi, Africa.
Being in such a deprived state people die every day from starvation, and
simple sickness. What organizations are around to prevent these deaths and
how are they helping?
Many of these deaths could have been prevented by the mere sum of “$7”, as
Baba Chris’s life was saved for $7 in the memoir It Happened on the Way to
War by Rye Barcott. Baba Chris, a leader in the community and a working
man, almost died from malaria because he could not afford the medicine
(Barcott 53). The most heart wrenching aspects of the conditions in Kibera
is that children are dying. As Barcott said in a recent article published
on Newsobserver.com:
“It's unimaginable to lose your child to a disease that can often be
prevented through vaccination for less than $10. It shouldn't happen, not
in our world of plenty. It's not right. It's intolerable.” (Barcott,
“Vaccines”)
There are 8 million child deaths, each year in Africa. (Barcott) Many
could have been prevented. Other common illnesses are HIV/AIDS, malaria,
African trypanosomiasis (“sleeping sickness”), tuberculosis, measles and
yellow fever. Due to Kibera being a slum I cannot find any censuses data
and many other forms of statistics, but an estimation can be made using
the national numbers (which themselves are probably underestimated)
compared to the size of Kibera’s population. 50,000 residents are infected
with HIV/AIDS, [HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet] making it a very real issue
for everyone in Kibera.
Doctors without Borders (DWB), is one organization that really tries to
tackle the health concerns in Kenya, with over 400 field staff working in
Mathare, Kibera, Busia and Homa Bay. Throughout the country HIV/AIDS and
tuberculosis (TB) infection spreads, treating HIV/AIDS is a waste of time
without treating TB. “TB is the leading killer of people living with
HIV/AIDS”; this is why DWB is treating many co-infected patients. (Doctors
without Borders). DWB does a tremendous amount of work, especially with
the size of the problem. About 100,000 people in Kenya have both HIV and
TB (Tuberculosis Profile), creating a tremendous deficit in needed
healthcare. HIV treatment is expensive and a long term however, it
prevents diseases like TB and Malaria from reoccurring. The HIV infected
is the most susceptible to falling ill from other diseases.
Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) do important work with health issues;
Organizations such as MB (Medical Bridges), AIDVC (Africa Infectious
Disease Village Clinics) and CW (Charity: Water), help with community
health care and wellbeing by treating and preventing illness. Many of the
NGOs can have a wide impact: AIDVC is providing 90,000 people with health
care, along with a fleet of 16 motorcycles to allow them to reach patients
within 80 miles away from their base [AIDVC Outreach Programs], Medical
Bridges ships millions of dollars of medical supplies all over Africa
[Medical Bridges] and in less than four years, charity: water has funded
clean water projects for more than one million people [Charity: Water].
The NGOs help some individuals, but due to the gravity of the situation
there might not be much of a substantial impact nationwide.
There are a lot of efforts to improve conditions in Africa by missions,
NGOs and Non-Profit Organizations. It’s great that there are such
tremendous efforts to help, they accomplish a lot with the little
resources they have. However, NGOs and governmental organizations need to
have a more substantial impact in the future. .
References
"AIDVC Outreach Programs." Africa Infectious Disease Village Clincs,
2005. Web. 12 Sep 2011.
Barcott, Rye. it happened on the way to war. New York: 2011. 53. Print.
Barcott, Rye. "Vaccines can keep our health commitment." The News
Observer. N.p., 12/2007. Web. 19 Sep 2011. <7.
"charity: water." Aid for Africa. Aid for Africa, n.d. Web. 12 Sep 2011.
"Doctors without Borders." Doctors Without Borders, 12/2007. Web. 19 Sep
2011.
Gibson, Campbell. United States. POPULATION OF THE 100 LARGEST CITIES AND
OTHER URBAN PLACES. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998.
Web. 12 Sep 2011.
"HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet." The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 2005.
Web. 12 Sep 2011.
"Medical Bridges." Aid for Africa. Aid for Africa, n.d. Web. 12 Sep 2011.
Smith, David. United States. Kibera: Africa’s largest slum. Affordable
Housing Institute: US, 2005. Web. 12 Sep 2011.
"Tuberculosis profile." The News Observer. World Health Organization,
2009. Web. 19 Sep 2011.
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