Africa
Africa is the second largest continent, with a population of over 1.4 billion people. This region has a unique cultural heritage, history, and resources. According to statistics, Africa has experienced significant steady growth in population, which has grown from 800 million people in 2000 to over 1.4 billion today (Saleh, 2022). However, throughout history, the continent has faced severe epidemics, including HIV/AIDS, Ebola, malaria, and chronic illnesses like diabetes and hypertension. These health crises significantly affected the region’s development, slowing down economic growth. Moreover, the political and socio-economic context of life in African countries limits the opportunities for residents to receive proper health care. As a result, disease epidemics have high mortality and morbidity rates, and their consequences have a lasting impact on the region.
Socioeconomic Factors
Poverty
Poverty is one of the most significant socioeconomic factors contributing to the health crisis on the continent. Poverty can refer to a lack of access to basic needs such as food, clothing, housing, health care, and education. Widespread poverty in Africa is a significant factor contributing to the exacerbation of the health crisis in the region. Household survey estimates by the World Bank show that the proportion of Africans living on less than $1.90 daily has declined from 56% in 1990 to 43% in 2012 (Okunlola & Akinlo, 2021). Persons living in extreme poverty do not have access to health care and thus may suffer from and die from preventable diseases. Moreover, malnutrition, violence, and substance abuse caused by poverty lead to poor health.
Lack of Clean Water
Another social factor leading to health crises on the continent is insufficient access to clean water and sanitation. Access to clean water and sanitation will likely prevent the spread of waterborne diseases and other infections. In some parts of Africa, the water is not safe to drink. The result can be dehydration and sometimes fatal waterborne infections such as cholera, malaria, dengue, and dysentery, which are common in Africa. Moreover, according to Baleni et al. (2022), poor hygiene habits, such as the consumption of untreated surface water, can contaminate food, which can cause diarrhea, malnutrition, and even starvation.
Extreme Weather
The risk of extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, as well as more extended periods of heat and dehydration, has increased due to climate change, contributing to the growth of health crises in Africa. As a result, Africa has seen an increase in extreme weather events, water scarcity, and unpredictable weather over the past few years. These modifications disrupted traditional farming practices, leading to crop failures, food insecurity, and famine. An increase in vector-borne diseases such as malaria, dengue, and chikungunya, as well as waterborne diseases such as cholera, is also attributed to changes in precipitation patterns and rising temperatures.
Political Factors
Colonialism
Colonialism has had a significant impact on health crises on the continent. The resources and people of countries have been massively exploited, leading to economic and social inequality today. It has contributed to the widespread health disparities and poverty faced by Africans. Health inequalities heavily influence health crises in Africa. Higher rates of mortality and morbidity, as well as poorer outcomes for people with chronic diseases, may result from inequalities in healthcare access. Access to immunization and other preventive measures that can stop the spread of disease is also uneven, exacerbating the problem. Colonial practices interrupted traditional culture, leading to changes in diet and living conditions that increased people’s susceptibility to infections.
Poor Governance
Another major cause of health crises in the region is poor governance. Public health infrastructure is needed to respond to health emergencies such as infectious diseases effectively, increasing the severity and spread of these problems. In addition, poor management of the health sector has led to limited funding and a lack of maintenance of health facilities. Most African governments allocate limited resources to health care and rely heavily on external donations. One of the main reasons is corruption, which has affected the provision of medical care. Corruption affects the fight against major diseases such as malaria and HIV/AIDS, as funds to buy drugs are likely to go into the pockets of greedy people. Moreover, over the past two centuries, Africa has experienced many violent confrontations, including civil wars, regional misunderstandings, and foreign intervention. These conflicts have undermined the population’s health because they often lead to the collapse of the public health system, which reduces the availability of resources for medical services, the level of medical care, and the prevalence of preventable and curable diseases.
Weak Health System
Africa’s unstable political context has significantly impacted the formation of an inefficient healthcare system in the region. For example, resources earmarked for healthcare could be redirected to purchasing firearms. This results in limited healthcare infrastructure, medicines, and investment in human resources. In addition, most African regions do not have access to the Internet and tend to use modern approaches to health care. There is a shortage of qualified health workers, leading to a gap in the provision of health services. In addition, public awareness of health and the necessary precautions is relatively low in Africa. For example, women’s dependence on corrupt health systems leaves them vulnerable to abuse and prevents them from accessing critical child, reproductive, and contraceptive health care (Kriel et al., 2019).
HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS is one of Africa’s most severe health crises, affecting many Africans. Despite an increase in the use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the mid-2000s and a decline in mortality, 60% of people in West and Central Africa and 34% of people in East and South Africa are not receiving any treatment (Dwyer-Lindgren et al., 2019). As a result, HIV/AIDS remains the leading cause of death on the continent. The disease burden is highly concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa, where 75% of deaths and 65% of new infections were reported in 2017 (Dwyer-Lindgren et al., 2019).
Main Reasons for HIV/AIDS
The prevalence of this disease in Africa is driven by poverty, inadequate access to health care, and gender. The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS among African countries may be related to the position of women in African society. Due to African traditions, women are forced to have unprotected sex with men likely to be infected with the disease. In addition, colonialism has contributed to the spread of HIV/AIDS by instilling fear in Africans, as a result of which they do not seek medical attention. Moreover, the impossibility of regulating the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa is due to the limited and uneven distribution of resources in the health sector.
Ebola
One of the deadliest health crises in Africa is the Ebola outbreak. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa in 2014–2016 was of great importance in the history of Africa and led to death: more than 28,000 people became infected, and more than 11,000 died from this disease (Keita et al., 2021). The spread of the disease has been linked to poverty and inadequate healthcare infrastructure. Increased cross-border mobility in Africa has contributed to health crises. People cross African borders for a stable income due to rising poverty in their countries. Moreover, some African countries affected by Ebola, such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, experienced political violence and civil conflict before the outbreak (DuBose et al., 2021). As a result, their economies were weakened, and their infrastructure, telecommunications, and transportation systems were destroyed.
References
Baleni, X., Obioha, E., & Mugari, I. (2022). Profiling water insecurity and its impacts on agricultural practices and rural livelihoods in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. African Journal of Development Studies (Formerly AFFRIKA Journal of Politics, Economics and Society), 12(3), 5–25. Web.
DuBose, K., Duffy, J., Farooq, S., Mohamud, S., & Sanders, M. (2021). Why Africa still has Ebola outbreaks. U-M School of Public Health. Web.
Dwyer-Lindgren, L., Cork, M. A., Sligar, A., Steuben, K. M., Wilson, K. F., Provost, N. R., Mayala, B. K., VanderHeide, J. D., Collison, M. L., Hall, J. B., Biehl, M. H., Carter, A., Frank, T., Douwes-Schultz, D., Burstein, R., Casey, D. C., Deshpande, A., Earl, L., El Bcheraoui, C., … Hay, S. I. (2019). Mapping HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2017. Nature, 570(7760), Article 7760. Web.
Keita, A. K., Koundouno, F. R., Faye, M., Düx, A., Hinzmann, J., Diallo, H., Ayouba, A., Le Marcis, F., Soropogui, B., Ifono, K., Diagne, M. M., Sow, M. S., Bore, J. A., CalvignacSpencer, S., Vidal, N., Camara, J., Keita, M. B., Renevey, A., Diallo, A., … Magassouba, N. F. (2021). The resurgence of the Ebola virus in 2021 in Guinea suggests a new paradigm for outbreaks. Nature, 597(7877), Article 7877. Web.
Kriel, Y., Milford, C., Cordero, J., Suleman, F., Beksinska, M., Steyn, P., & Smit, J. A. (2019). Male partner influence on family planning and contraceptive use: Perspectives from community members and healthcare providers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Reproductive Health, 16(1), 89. Web.
Okunlola, O. C., & Akinlo, A. E. (2021). Does economic freedom enhance the quality of life in Africa? International Review of Economics, 68(3), 357–387. Web.
Saleh, M. (2022). Africa: Total population 2000-2030. Statista. Web.