Write about the Major Health Challenges (5 paragraphs total) facing democratic of congo: In no more than 1 paragraph each, briefly address the overall burden of mortality and morbidity due to each of the following sectors as well as identifying specific challenges that democratic of congo faces within each sector. Please write about these sectors as subsections in your paper so that they are easily identifiable.
● Non-Communicable Disease
● Maternal and Child Health
● Environmental Health
● Disaster, Injury, and Violence
Make sure to use in text citations and please make the essay flow, refer to example
double spaced, times new roman, 12 point font and here is an example from the professor – her example is about India
Maternal and Child Health
There is no doubt that maternal health is a large-scale issue in third-world countries. In
201, a WHO study showed that India had the second-highest maternal mortality rate globally,
constituting 15% of the mortality rate worldwide (Ghosh & Ghosh, 2020). In rural villages, the
government in India fails to provide basic essential services for women to have healthy
pregnancies and deliveries. Women in these communities do not have access to proper shelter,
nutritious food, clean water, and bathroom facilities. The leading cause of maternal deaths in
these villages is malnutrition and infectious diseases. The lack of hospitals and doctors in these
areas contribute to high mortality rates in mothers and their newborns (Every Mother Counts,
2020). When it comes to urban cities, mothers do not always have access to government
hospitals because of overpopulation in the city and the lack of hospital resources. Women are
often receiving little to no postpartum care. Private practice is an option; however, this is not
affordable for everyone.
As a result of the lack of resources in hospitals, unfortunately, many mothers’ only option
is home birth where they will not have the life-saving help if something goes wrong and this puts
their own and newborn’s life at risk. Some life-threatening problems include “excessive bleeding, infections, pregnancy-induced hypertension, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortions.”
(Population Reference Bureau, 2003). Pre and Postpartum medical care is highly recommended
by health professionals globally. The mother and child must be both given checkups and are
monitored before and after delivery to make sure they are both healthy and are not at risk.
Maternal health has made huge strides within the last 2 to 3 decades in India. Governments are
implementing standards and programs like UNICEF to help install policies and regulations that
made it possible for the maternal and newborn mortality rates to significantly drop. (UNICEF)
“India showed a decline of 70% in maternal mortality, from 152,000 in 1990 to 45,000 in 2015.”
(Ghosh, 2020) Hopefully, with more awareness and resources, we will see the rates decline even
further.
Non-communicable Diseases
In the last few decades, India’s gap in health disparities amongst the rich and the poor has
widened significantly. There is a direct relationship between health-related changes and the
rising burden of non-communicable diseases. Non-communicable diseases are the leading cause
of death in India, constituting nearly 80% of deaths in India (Pandve, 2012). According to WHO,
approximately 5.8 million people, equivalent to 1 in 4, die from non-communicable diseases before they reach the age of 70 (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Between the years
1990 and 2016, the burden of non-communicable diseases in India has increased almost 30%
(Public Health Foundation of India [PHFI], 2018). Four non-communicable diseases contributing
most to the deaths in India are heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and chronic pulmonary disease.
The known determinants of non-communicable diseases include tobacco use, alcohol use,
unhealthy diets, and light/sedentary lifestyles (Narain, 2016). As India continues to experience
growing disparities between the rich and the poor, it poses more damaging health and social consequences from infectious diseases. Non-communicable diseases affect those living in rural
areas and less developed states the most, generally progressing very slowly from physiological,
environmental, and behavioral factors. Most of the disease burden in less developed countries
finds its roots in the consequences of poverty, resulting in poor nutrition, lack of access to proper
sanitation, health education, health access, and health facilities. These challenges that India faces
all contribute to the continual rise of non-communicable diseases everywhere in India.
Environmental Health
The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) out of Yale University ranks and evaluates
180 countries in terms of environmental health and sustainability practices. Due to its chronic air
pollution and poor sanitation issues, India ranks last on the EPI list. Air pollution in India kills
1.1 million people a year, as of 2018; 75 percent of these victims live in rural areas, despite smog
and pollution mostly being created in dense urban areas. (Health Issues India, 2018).
Furthermore, of the ten greatest polluted cities in the world, nine of them are in India (The
Lancet, 2020). Delhi, the capital city, ranks number 11. Aside from air pollution, for water and
sanitation, India also fell low on the Environmental Performance Index, at 145; for wastewater
treatment, it ranks 175. (Health Issues India, 2018).
In addition to these chronic environmental issues, which impact the health of citizens,
India’s diverse geography and broad borders make it vulnerable to a host of environmental health
crises relating to climate change. Between 1980 and 2017, for example, 10% of the glaciated
area of the Nanda Devi region, in the Central Himalayas, melted. A study done in 57 Indian
cities show that, by the late 2030s onwards, 33 cities will experience more rainfall and flooding
risks, while the other 24 will be more susceptible to low precipitation and drought. The mega-city Mumbai is one of the 33 cities most threatened by coastal flooding. (Kaur & Pandey,
2021). Though these issues are direct products of climate change, problems lie also in the
sustainability and efficiency of India’s air and water filtration systems. Since it ranks so low on
the EPI, the country faces many challenges to its environmental health.
Disaster, Injury, and Violence
Natural disasters are common occurrences in India that arise from location and climate.
From 1970 to 2009, India experienced 371 natural disasters, affecting 1.86 billion people, and
ranks India very high on the Climate Risk Index (Chowdhury, 2020). The severity of the
disasters worsens by the poverty levels and lack of resources in many regions. The severe effects
of natural disasters on families lead to more than just loss of life and injury, but also serious
mental health effects, including anxiety, depression, and PTSD (Dikid et al, 2013). Significant
impacts are more commonly seen in children who experience natural disasters and riots in their
lives. Children will witness the loss of their homes, siblings, and parents, leading to PTSD
symptoms and anxiety. In the riots in India, many personal losses are experienced by families
which leads to socioeconomic stress as well (Dikid et al., 2013). Children who experience
natural disasters experience greater malnutrition, less immunization, and growth stunting
following the disaster events. They also increase the likelihood of children developing acute
illness by a significant amount (Datar et al., 2013).
India also has a high level of domestic violence and child mortality in families. There is
also a significant correlation between domestic violence during pregnancy and infant mortality in
India. Women who experience domestic violence tend to have much lower rates of maternal
health care, in turn decreasing infant survival rates (Ahmed et al., 2006). Another common area
of violence in India is in the medical workplace itself. The majority of doctors in India experience workplace violence. The violence against doctors is most commonly related to the
quality of treatment that the patient was given, and the violence is done by the families of the
patients. This abuse to doctors decreases the management of severe medical cases in India, which
hurts the quality of patient health care (Ahamed, 2020).