NGO "ANOTHER WAY" (STICHTING BAKENS VERZET), NETHERLANDS, SUSTAINABLE INTEGRATED SELF-FINANCING DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS AND ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TECHNOLOGIES

This is an in-depth evaluation of the fourth service needed for a good quality of life. The first three were those related to physical security, the supply of clean drinking water, and food security.

Look at slide :

18. Health and sanitation.

The collection of social conditions needed for good basic health for local populations includes important factors not necessarily directly associated with the practice of (curative) medicine. Review section 2 - 04 Drinking water , 07. Food security, and 03. Shelter. The graphics in section 1 07.Financial leakage : health and education we saw that the reduction of the incidence of some diseases in the United States was due more the improvement in general living conditions that it was to vaccination programmes.

A good general reference on integrated approaches to health issues and their relationship with climate and environmental issues is Costello A. et al, Managing the health effects of climate change, Lancet (The) Vol. 373, Issue 9676, pp. 1693-1733 with University College London (Institute for Global Health Commission), London, 2009. [Registration is required for free access].

Hygiene education, sanitation, the recycling of wastes, drainage, insect- and vermin control and the aeration of dwellings are all factors which are extremely important to the good health of populations.

These factors will come up over and over again during this course, as they form one of the bases of integrated development projects.

Hygiene education.

Carefully read section 09.15 An indicative hygiene education programme of the Model.

1. Opinion.

On one page, make a list of subjects applicable to your project area which you think should be added to the programme.

Drainage.

“Humidity promotes the growth of moulds.” (Paragraph 8 of the article of the European Commission Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) in its opinion Risk assessment of indoor quality, (Brussel, 2007)

The majority of the health effects linked to dampness and moisture of buildings are those of the respiratory system. They range from irritation of mucous membranes, respiratory symptoms, and infections to diseases such as asthma and allergy. However, it is still not known precisely how dampness leads to these symptoms and which are the main substances responsible.

Humidity problems in buildings may originate from leaks, condensation, or the ground. Excess humidity promotes the growth of micro-organisms such as moulds and bacteria that lead to release of pollutants into indoor air.

Inadequate ventilation may increase humidity and the levels of pollutants.

2. Research.

Is humidity inside homes a problem in your project area? If so, describe the most common problems on one page. If not, describe on one page, why humidity is not a problem for homes in your project area.

Many diseases are water-related They are caused by aquatic organisms which spend a part of their life-cycle in water and another part in the form of parasites on animals sometimes using intermediaries such as snails. As parasites, they are often worms (helminths). They do not necessarily cause death, but they are often debilitating and lead to inaction and to the loss of the possibility to work. Stagnant water surfaces which form after the construction of dams increase the risk of diseases such as schistosomiasis. A study of 225 villages in Mali with different ecological features showed that the risk of illness from urinary schistosomiasis was five times greater in villages with small dams, than in those without dams. (Source : Population Reports, Vol. XXVI, no. 1, September 1998, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore.)

The World Health Organisation published the following Water and sanitation related diseases fact-sheets in 2009 :

· Anaemia

· Arsenicosis See also: Arsenic in drinking-water

· Ascariasis

· Campylobacteriosis . See other WHO related activities

· Cyanobacterial Toxins

· Dengue and Dengue Haemorrhagic Fever . See other WHO related activities

· Diarrhoea . See other WHO related activities

· Drowning

· Fluorosis

· Guinea-Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis). See other WHO related activities

· Hepatitis . See other WHO related activities

· Japanese Encephalitis . See other WHO related activities

· Lead Poisoning . See also lead in drinking-water

· Leptospirosis

· Malaria . See also: WHO Activities on Malaria

· Malnutrition . See also Global Database on Child Growth and Malnutrition

· Methaemoglobinemia

· Onchocerciasis (River Blindness) . See other WHO related activities

· Ringworm (Tinea)

· Scabies

· Schistosomiasis . See

· Spinal Injury

· Trachoma . See other WHO related activities

· Typhoid and Paratyphoid Enteric Fevers . See WHO related activities

The elimination of stagnant surface waters is therefore one of the most important aspects for disease prevention.

Some diseases are carried by insects such as mosquitoes (malaria) and black-flies (onchocerciasis) in areas with river courses. Very simple technologies contribute to the fight against insects.

Insect control.

The first of them is, where possible, respect for the “timetables” of the insects, in particular at nightfall.

One of the most useful appropriate technology resources for application at local level within the framework of integrated development projects under the Model is website “CD3WD” created and managed by Peter Weir in Harare, Zimbabwe. For more information refer to the introduction to Peter Weir’s work.

Peter Weir’s work can be accessed through his subject index CD3WD. The collection includes :

The construction of fly traps (Courtesy TALC UK.)

Mosquito nets. (WHO World Health Organisation, 1998)

Aeration of homes.

Aeration, especially the elimination of smoke inside dwellings is one of the most important steps to attain a good quality of life in developing countries. Little attention is paid to the problem of smoke, as it is not a very attractive sector for the foreign aid industry.

In poor countries, and especially in Africa, the most widely used source of energy is bio-mass such as wood, charcoal, agricultural waste, and animal manure. 2.4 billion people use these forms of biomass for their cooking. If coal were to be included in the list, the number would pass to 3 billion.

The smoke from burning these fuels turns kitchens in the world’s poorest countries into death traps. Indoor air pollution from the burning of solid fuels kills over 1.6 million people, predominately women and children, each year. This is more than three people per minute. It is a death toll almost as great as that caused by unsafe water and sanitation, and greater than that caused by malaria. Smoke in the home is one of the world’s leading child killers, claiming nearly one million children’s lives each year…… in poor people’s homes throughout the developing world levels of exposure to pollutants are often 100 times greater than recommended maximums.” (Warwick H, Doig G : Smoke, the killer in the kitchen –Indoor air pollution in developing countries, ITDG Publishing, London 2004, p.vi).

The Lancet, edition 6^th December 2003, vol. 362, issue 9399, p.1907 in “Report highlights hazard of smoke from indoor fires” cites the ITDG report and comments that extensive and prolonged exposure to combustion products in closed environments is one of the most important causes of disease and deserves priority both for research and for preventive measures.

The problem is not limited to individual dwellings. Many villages are in their entirety subjected to the risks of smoke two or three times a day, at the time food is prepared.

Integrated development projects introduce high-efficiency cookers to reduce, and if possible eliminate, all risk of smoke (and fire !) in homes.

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◄ First block : Poverty and quality of life.

◄ Index : Diploma in Integrated Development (Dip.Int.Dev)

◄ List of key words.

◄ List of references.

◄ Course chart.

◄ Courses available.

◄ Homepage Bakens Verzet.

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