Introduction - Always an African problem?

As this is my first blog post, I thought I'd start of with a bit of history and an introduction! 

During the 19th century, Cholera, an acute diarrhoeal disease, spread across the world from its original reservoir in the Ganges delta in India. Six subsequent pandemics have killed millions of people across all continents, and this epidemic is said to have reached the shores of Africa in 1971 (WHO, 2016).  

Shallow wells open all day, privies that formed cesspools in the street - the reoccurring outbreaks of Cholera in England in the 19th century, highlighted the stark similarities between England and African cities today (Davey Smith, 2002).  

Only after years of research by epidemiologists like Snow and Sutherland was the 'faecal-oral' paradigm formed. This was the most significant breakthrough that first linked water to health and is the starting point of water and sanitation studies in Africa!

In Africa today, the limited sources of water that are available to the population face a whole host of issues. Surface water sources are often highly polluted, and modern pipe systems to transport water are too costly. Additionally, groundwater may be contaminated with heavy metals, and bacteria through the leakage of septic systems or contaminated wells. And, this strain on resources has been compounded by excessive water extraction linked to the growth of urban areas, which increase the likelihood of contamination with human waste and the unintentional use of wastewater in irrigated agriculture (Lewis, 2014: 2).

Below are some figures to give a bit of a background as to the current water and sanitation environment in Africa.

(WHO, 2012: 9) 

(WHO, 2012: 7)

Reference List:

Davey Smith, G. (2002) 'Commentary: Behind the Broad Street pump: aetiology, epidemiology and prevention of cholera in mid-19th century Britain', International Journal of Epidemiology, 31, 920-932

Lewis, L. (2014) 'Rural and Urban Water Issues in Africa', Prepared for Water Aid, 1-3

WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme (2012) 'A Snapshot of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Africa - 2012 Update' (WWW; http://www.wssinfo.org/fileadmin/user_upload/resources/Africa-AMCOW-Snapshot-2012-English-Final.pdf; 03 December 2015)

World Health Organisatio (2016) 'Cholera Fact Sheet' (WWW; http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs107/en; 02 January 2016)