Clean water is a basic health issue everywhere in the developing world. Senegal is a LEDC with a high unemployment rate of 48% of the population being unemployed and 54% of the population living below the poverty line. The life expectancy is 59 years old, though due to a lack of medical aid in more rural areas of the country this can be less. Over 1% of the population is afflicted with HIV/ AIDS and that’s not the least of their worries. The population is at a high risk of getting major infectious diseases due to the following: water borne, food, vector borne, water contact, respiratory, and animal contact diseases.
Water contamination is a big problem facing Senegal because it is caused by pollution. This keeps the people of Senegal from being able to safely drink the water from the lakes and rivers such as the Senegal River. Without easy access to clean water the people of rural Senegal are forced to walk for long distances to get water that is unsafe for them to use as drinking and cooking water. Not only is this water unclean but it also is a burden to transport from the water source to their homes. The heavy water, which in Senegal is often, carried by women on their heads causes for the women to have back problems, which they have no access to medical care for.
 |
| This Photo has been taken from Trekearth.com photographed by Olivier Cantuern on 2005-12-04 in Joal, Senegal. |
The lack of clean water sources causes many chronic health problems though they cannot be compared to the gravity of the acute health problems caused by unclean water. These diseases can vary from waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and Typhoid fever; to water contact diseases such as schistosomiasis.
