Tropical Diseases Essay Research Paper Women — страница 2

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relative to her developed-world sister than does a Sub-Saharan male compared with his developed-world brother”. With many tropical diseases (malaria, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis), exposure to the bites of infective vectors is closely related to work patterns of males and females, to individual and community behaviour (Robert, 1963) and is central to transmission. Until recently, the theory has been that because males assumed the greatest responsibility for farm labour, their exposure and infection rates would be considerably greater than those of the female members of the family. Historical changes in economic and agricultural roles of men and women leave women with the major responsibility for subsistence farming (Okonjo, 1988) and family welfare. Adolescent and adult

females in Africa now make the greatest contribution to agricultural production (FAO, 1984). These changes in roles have increased exposure of females to infective bites of flies which transmit tropical diseases and increase their role in the transmission of diseases. In a recent review, Amazigo (1994) observed that certain health conditions and problems associated with the highly prevalent tropical infectious diseases (e.g malaria, schistosomiasis) are shared by males and females at almost equal prevalence rates but they have each particularly serious consequences for females because of their reproductive functions. These problems exacerbate risk during pregnancy and childbirth. A few tropical infectious diseases cause gross disfigurement. Leprosy, lymphatic filariasis,

schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis and onchocerciasis are all diseases that disfigure the body – (SLIDES), hence, men and women are affected but differently socially, economically and psychologically. Studies demonstrate that these diseases are particularly cruel for adolescent females and women because of their effects on marriage prospects (Amazigo and Obikeze, 1990), education and self esteem ( Ovuga et al, 1996). The results of multi-country study on the social and economic effects of onchocerciasis demonstrated that school-age girls whose parents have severe onchocercal skin disease (OSD) are 2.6 times more likely to drop out of school than their counterparts from non-OSD families (TDR/WHO,1997). Some if not all tropical diseases have direct health effects that go beyond the

immediate female victim. Malaria in women leads to low birth weight either by premature delivery or impaired growth in utero (TABLE) and in pregnant women provides an opportunity especially in Plasmodium falciparum infection for parasites to invade the fetus itself (McGregor, 1983). In women with onchocercal itching the duration of breastfeeding was reduced by more than 9 months for 25 per cent of the infected women who breastfed infants after the onset of disease condition (Amazigo, 1994). Women have thus been subject to government attention in the provision of health services not for their own sake, but largely for their roles as mothers and for being responsible for family members health (Rathgeber and Vlassoff, 1993). In this discussion paper, infectious and parasitic

diseases (malaria, tuberculosis, onchocerciasis ) selected were chosen because they have deleterious impact on women and the size of their burden as measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) (Murray and Lopez, 1994). Even when infections from them do not proceed to mortality they generate considerable morbidity in men and women. MALARIA The threat from malaria is a global and not an African issue. One billion people are at risk from malaria and between 1-2 million deaths per year are due to malaria and 90 per cent of the deaths are in Africa. Given the global warming and increased international travel, urban malaria is now a major public health problem in Africa and persons from developed countries who have no immunity are at great risk. On March 13, 1998 a new global

initiative was announced by the new Director General of WHO, Dr Bruntland to Roll Back Malaria. The program aims at reducing malaria deaths (2.7 million deaths per year) by 50 per cent by year 2010 primarily through control activities including rebuilding health care services. The Roll Back Malaria is initiative a new opportunity to the African region to control malaria but several issues need to be carefully considered in implementation of this new attack to avoid past mistakes which resulted to both insecticide and drug resistance. In the search for new insecticides it will be useful to explore the potentials of traditional herbs in use in the communities by local people as mosquitoes repellents (e.g local herb, Nchawu – which the Igbos of Nigeria burn to ward off