WHO in Kenya

Looking over the WHO stats for Kenya I saw some good data and terrible data. First, I found it shocking that the life expectancy rate is 51 and 50 for women. This is scary because this means that I would live on average 25 years longer than these people which is simply unfair for me to live more than half of their lives longer. Although, there were some good stats on the amount in poverty and who are literate which are relative of course. This also scares me because I sometimes take for granite my education and the money my family has. Lastly, I hope that these numbers will get better as time passes but looking at the data it is only getting worse. 

Health in Kenya

As I glanced over the numbers for Kenya, it didn't appear to be that poor of a country. They have about 23% of people below the poverty level which is a lot of people, but it is good compared to other countries in Africa. They also had a 73.6 % adult literacy rate, which isn't great but it also isn't terrible, which means that the schools must be pretty good. One scary statistic that I found though is that the average life expectancy is 50 years for men and 51 for women. That is a terrible number because it is a very young age to be dying. Also, the healthy life expectancy is only 44 and 45 years which is even worse because that is also an incredibly low number. A final statistic that I found disturbing is that the the under 5 and maternal mortality rates have increased in recent years. Since 1990, the maternal mortality rate has even doubled. 

South Africa

South Africa proved to be the country that benefitted most from colonization. Once the white government accepted that Africans were going to be involved in the politics and economy of the country, democratic elections took place. The new presidents had to face rising unemployment, widespread lawlessness, chronic corruption, and an ominous flight of capital and professional personnel from the country. The poor people argue that the benefits of the political system didn't seep down to the poor, like the failure to carry out the proposed land reform policy. Nonethless, South Africa still remains the wealthiest and most industrialized African State. According to the WHO website, South Africa's gross national income per capita is 10960, while the WHO African region has a gross national income per capita of 2074. Also, the percent of the population living under the poverty is much less in South Africa than in the rest of the African region. In South Africa, only 10.7% fall into this category, but the rest of the WHO African region has 44% of the population living on less than one dollar a day. Literacy rates are also much higher in South Africa versus the rest of the African state, a result of colonization.

WHO stats

I read about South Africa in the textbook and therefore I looked up South America on WHO.  One stat that pops out to me is the deaths from aids/ HIV.  I think of South Africa as one of the more elite countries in Africa.  However when looking at the stat of death by AIDS, 52% of deaths are caused by AIDS, it makes South Africa seem like they aren't such an elite state when it boils down to it.  They themselves have having trouble containing AIDS despite any educational advantages that they have over other african countries.  AIDS causes the most deaths among people, and causes the second most deaths among children.  However, there is also a lot of data that supports my idea of South Africa being one of the more elite african countries.  For instance, 98% of the country has access to an improved water source.  There are a couple of conclusion that can be drawn by looking at these stats.  South Africa is an elite country, they just put more money into infrastructure instead of medicine, and the general well being of their people.  From my point of view africa is doing the right thing.  Almost all other african countries need to improve their infrastructure before they can even begin to think about improving the health program. 

Kenya

With the life expectance of 51 in Kenya it is apparent that something has gone terribly wrong with the way things are done there. While much of the country is rural, thus making it harder for medical care to be brought in, a life expectancy rate of 51 is lower than most of the other countries in the world, some of which are even less developed than Kenya. With a population of over 31 million it would seem that it would not be overcrowded. the real kicker is that it has more access to WHO resources than the rest of the continent, so why is the life expectancy so low?

Healthcare in Kenya

While looking at the fact sheet for Kenya, I noticed that the life expectancy for males is 51 and for females is 50 years old. These numbers may seem low to us in the US, where the life expectancy is roughly 75 years, however on the fact sheet it seems as though these numbers are slightly higher than the average life expectancy in the whole WHO region. Another interesting thing that I noticed was that the probability of dying for adults was significantly lower in Kenya than the WHO African region for males, but also significantly higher for females. Kenya also has double the percent of HIV caused deaths than the average, however its HIV prevelance among adults is lower than the average. This may say something about their health care system compared to other African countries. The TB prevalence and incidence is also almost double in Kenya compared to the other countries. The strange thing is that Kenya has almost a 20% increased access more than the rest of the WHO African region, which makes me think that there may be another reason for the increased prevelance rate of many of the diseases.

Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the third largest country in Africa and has roughly 68 million people.  
The DRC was established as a Belgian colony in 1908 and gained independence in 1960.  Its colonial history is marked by violence, as the Belgian colonialists brutalized the Congolese population to produce rubber.  
Not suprisingly, the Congo is still marred by war.  In 1998, a brutal civil war began, killing hundreds of thousands of people.  Now, an estimated 45,000 people are dying per month due to effects from the war.  The country still has a population growth of 3.2%, however.  Life expectancy is a mere 54 years in the DRC, due to the devastating effects of AIDS, Malaria, and famine on this poor country. Over 4% of the population lives with AIDS.  For such a troubled country, the literacy rate is suprisingly good.  67.2% of the population is literate, with 80% males compared to 54% for females.  Moreover, the school life expectancy is 10 years for males compared to 8 for women.  Many of the problems in this nation began with their mistreatment by the Belgians.  Since its independence, the DRC has been unable to shake trouble.  Women are consistently abused, as seen by the lower literacy and schooling rates.  The Democratic Republic of the Congo, being the 3rd largest country in Africa, is constantly in the middle of other nation's problems.  Refugees are consistently overflowing into the DRC, and this creates even more problems.

Nigeria's Ongoing Issues

Nigeria is one of the wealthiest and largest country in Africa.  Unfortunately, like many places in Africa, it is still suffering from many problems.  For example on WHO/AFRO it says the adult literacy rate is only 11.1%.  This is drastically different than the world we live in, where it is hard to find someone illiterate.   Also the life expectancy is 45 years.  This is relatively good for Africa, but compared to us, only half our lifetime.  Although these problems are similar to those of other African countries, the real problem seems to be derived from the turmoil and divides between the country.  The textbook insinuates about the oil reserves, but does not directly state that Nigeria is under somewhat of an indirect rule.  It seems to be tied down politically due to foreign oil interests.  Though the government was able to profit greatly from the oil industry, much of its population is neglected and suffering.  The government was also having trouble with internal corruption as it "ruthlessly suppressed all opposition."  Not only does Nigeria have political unrest, but it also has deep religious divides rooted hundreds of years back.  The Muslim verses Christian conflict is still ongoing today.  Not only is it anguished by the present day conflict, but it also has historical divides fueling it.  As Muslim cattle herders moved to Nigeria, trying to get away from the dry Sahara grasslands, they ran into conflicts over land with the preexistent Christian farmers.  

It is ironic that one of the wealthiest countries in Africa could have such alarming statistics.  Although it seems that the wealth would mitigate the problems, it is the deep divides that torment Nigeria, throwing it off balance.

South Africa HIV

The country of South Africa has gained notoriety mostly due to its racially segregated past that defined the country for a century. Today, we give recognition to this country for overcoming apartheid in a place dramatically overwhelmed by racism and hatred. We commend South Africa for taking the right steps on the path of humanity, justice, and other aspects of the modern world. Yet, South Africa is unable to dissociate itself from the primitive behavior that is eroding its stability slowly but surely. In 2005, it was found that 31 % of all pregnant women were infected with HIV, while another 20 % of adults contracted the same disease. Meanwhile, South Africa's leaders only inflamed the issue by denying the presence of HIV in order to avoid addressing such a viral problem. The disease is rooted in South Africa's most prominent social issues, mainly poverty and urban development. HIV has caused the displacement of roughly 1.2 million children, while wiping out many families' main source for economic stability in the household, thus providing a deeper hole of poverty. It also boasts the world's second highest murder rate, mostly on account of rampant poverty in the urban townships that surround South Africa's largest cities. The crime has caused a trend of suburban migration from the cities, abandoning central business districts and industrial jobs. However, what is most frightening is that South Africa is considered Africa's most progressive country.

Nigeria: Rural Life

In 2005, 52% of Nigerian citizens lived in rural areas. In 2002, 49% of rural citizens had access to improved water sources, and 30% had obtained improved sanitation. This leaves 51% of rural citizens without the substantial amount of drinkable water us Americans take advantage of each day. 70% of rural citizens are forced to use some other makeshift form of sanitation. This statistic however, is less alarming to me than the water statistic. It is one thing to say a group of people are without clean water, but proper sanitation to me goes under the category of lifestyle. Sanitation to dehydrated rural citizens of Nigeria is probably not one of the top concerns, considering the small percentage of diseases correlated with poor sanitation in Nigeria. As Americans we tend to form opinions about the economy and general well-being of other countries in relation that of our own. In the book, we read that by definition, a rural citizen of Nigeria lives in a traditional manner, which was passed down from generations ago. Are these people necessarily poor? As modern Americans we have never had to truly "fend" for ourselves. We see hunting for food and living in huts as the quintessential barbaric lifestyle. This is the lifestyle that is in place, and if we look at the second statistic, we should be comfortable to focus all help on access to fresh water rather than building infrastructure -- we would only be enforcing our accustomed lifestyle upon a group of people who have lived according to tradition for centuries. 

Employment vs Population in Kenya

I investigated Kenya’s rural versus urban life. According to the CIA World Factbook about 80% of the population lives in rural areas as of 2008. However, from WHO I was able to obtain that only 58% live in rural areas. Even though these statistics are off, the numbers are still both very large. We can say that less than half of the population live in cities, while the rest live elsewhere. Of the 30 million people in Kenya about 23% are below the poverty line of earning one dollar a day as mentioned in WHO. From the textbook I was able to see that there is a 45% unemployment rate. From all of these facts I was able to derive that less than half lived in the cities, meaning that they were a bit well off in their lifestyles, while the other plus 50% were not doing so well and living in rural areas. Also from the 23% below poverty border percentage I was able to conclude that even the people that are employed (55%) a bit less than half is not earning enough money to maintain themselves. Over all I conclude that there is a little bit of people that are fine in Kenya, but over one half of the population are squalors.

Education in Kenya

Kenya has had a variety of results from the colonialism of European settlers. There is a 45% unemployment rate and 20% of the population is living below the poverty line. Kenya has one of the highest rate of population growth rates in the world. The problems are only worsened by fighting between ethnic groups and fragile political stability. So I was quite surprised when I found the following statistics. The adult literacy rate is 73.6 % compared with the 60.1 of the rest of Africa. And there is a 66% enrollment ration for primary school. Not only was this surprising because both young boys and girls have an equal enrollment rate in school, but how the education seems so prominent in a country with so much poverty and unemployment. However, unlike many other African countries, Kenya welcomed the Europeans, who brought over foreign investment and profit incentives. While many are unemployed and six of the thirty million people are squatters, the strong presence of the West provides a good explanation for the impressive educational statistics in Africa. 

Nigeria and Education

Although recently Nigeria has been split through racial, economic, and other tensions, it is not the classic picture of a chaotic African country that we would picture. Take, for example, education in Nigeria. The adult literacy rate is 66.8%, and the percentage of children enrolled in primary (elementary) school is 74% for males, and 60% for females. This relatively high percentage of education can be attributed partly to Nigeria's extremely vast supplies of oil and the capital gained from its sale, which allow for the infrastructure and networking required for a working education system. The HIV/AIDS infection percentage for Nigeria is around 5%, as opposed to the 7% in the rest of the African Region. The use of condoms in young people is approximately half for men, and a quarter for women. This possibly shows the effects of education regarding sex, STDs, and safe sex in general.

However, looking at the other statistics for Nigeria in the World Health Organization's factsheet, Nigeria's education levels appear contradictory in relation to figures such as the relatively high infant-mortality, high amount of people living below the poverty line, low percentages of access to improved sanitation and water supplies (in relation to the rest of the African Region).

Tanzania

In 1967, the Arusha Declaration was passed making Tanzania a socialist country. Initially this reduced the amount of corruption and stabilized the government. Tanzania seemed to be better off than many other African countries. 

Even though Tanzania shared its wealth, their wasn't much to share. Inadequate soil and rainfall made agriculture a difficult center for their economy. The low resources have stunted the growth of the country and created much poverty both in urban and rural areas. 

Both malaria and AIDS are huge causes of death for Tanzania and this may result from their urban poverty. Their number of adult deaths is much higher than other African countries. Part of this could be attributed to their lack of resources ie. food. 

Kenya: Urban vs. Rural

I looked at Kenya, a country that opted for capitalism. Though Kenya is successful in that it has a strong middle class, this wealth is based mostly in the capital, Nairobi. Elsewhere, unemployment, landlessness, and income inequities are fairly high. From WHO I found that around 42% of the population lives in urban areas. They are probably the successful middle class, flourishing in the capital. However, this leaves over half the population to other areas in the country. According to World History, almost one-fifth of Kenya's thirty million people are squatters, with unemployment estimated at nearly 45%. Combining these statistics with the ones from WHO, you can see that, though just under half of the population is doing well, and equal amount of people are suffering--unworking and possibly homeless. According to WHO, just about 23% of the people in Kenya live below the poverty level (under $1 a day). So basically, half of the population of Kenya is doing fine. Another quarter live in squalor. All of those, plus a quarter more, are unemployed. There is some discrepancy between the WHO data and the data from Wolrd History. In World History 80% of the population is said to remain rural, while only 20% occupies urban areas. Naturally, with these different statistics, the statistics for the percent of the population below the poverty line were also much higher: 40% of Kenyans. In either case, of the people that live in rural areas, about half are moneyless--a very concerning statistic. Is the middle class so focused on "the tradition of aggressive commerce" that they do not see how bad off the majority of the rest of their country is?

Rural Life In Kenya

I decided to look at the quality of life in rural areas in Kenya, a very interesting and recently messed-up country.  According to the WHO website, only 58% of Kenyan citizens live in rural environments, as opposed to a whopping 84% for nearby Ethiopia, but the information given is from 2005.  On the CIA World Factbook, Kenya's urban population is listed at only 22%, and the data is from 2008.  It also lists that the urbanization rate over the last five years has been roughly 4%, so people are continuing to move into the cities.  

Despite this information, Kenya remains a country most recognized for its small tribal villages which have kept the same way of life for centuries.  While culturally stimulating, this system has proven to be unproductive in terms of raising the standard of living for the majority of Kenyans.  The national unemployment rate is around 45%, higher than the average in Africa, which is mildly surprising considering Kenya's relatively strong economy.  Also, 75% of the country's workforce are agricultural workers, mostly using archaic and inefficient methods, again hampering the potential for growth.  

Although the image of men with spears herding cattle is a beautiful defining image, Kenya's rural population is far too great to be efficient in moving the country towards a better future.

Ethiopia+Rural Areas

I researched the facts about Ethiopia and its urban/rural population. Ethiopia has a very low percentage of people living in urban area (16 percent). The other people live on farms and other rural areas. The adult literacy rate is 9.4 percent, which is below the average for Africa. The net primary school enrollment ratio is also below average. This is caused by not a lot of people living in urban areas where education can be provided. Ethiopia also lacks people that work in the health systems. They only have 93 dentists and less than 2000 physicians for the whole country. All of their statistics for health workers are a lot below the average line in Africa.

Central Africa at War

The basic focus point of the problems of central Africa from the textbook was that it was always at war and there was constant civil war.  When I looked on the WHO for the Central African Republic's Death Causes I found it interesting that it didn't have war or fighting as one of the causes.  Then I looked back in the textbook and thought maybe go more towards individual country, so I looked up the Democratic Republic of Congo and found that 5% of all of the deaths (something like 44 of 987) were caused by war.  I thought that was a little amazing among itself, 5% of the country dies because of war (I think annually).  

Next I looked up Rwanda and then Burundi.  Again, for Rwanda, war wasn't even listed, but for Burundi it was 7% or about 8 out of 120 people.  The textbook said that there was constant civil war and even with talks of peace it still continues on and on, so you would have to think that these fatality numbers are constant from year to year.  This seems amazing considering all of the other potential problems that Africa has, from diseases to economic problems, to still have that many people die annually in these countries is a little ridiculous.

Ethiopia - Rural Life

In the 1970's, Ethiopia decided to instate a society based on the principles of socialism. But, they were not successful, which is clear from the large discrepancies that exist between rural and urban life. In rural parts of Ethiopia, only 11% of people have access to clean water. This number is frightening low especially compared to the 88% that receive clean water in urban cities. Also, 19% of urban people have improved sanitation, while only 4% of rural people have this. On top of this, of the 23% of people that live under $1, 65% are from rural areas.

These numbers show that the socialist government, which was overthrown in 1990, did not live up to the demands of socialism. They did not make sure that equal services were provided to all people, even in basic services like access to clean water and sanitary living conditions. There is a large difference between rural and urban life, and while urban conditions may not be the best, it is definitely better than conditions in rural areas.

But, the greatest problem that Ethiopia faces currently is not this divide, it is lack of health care. The ratio of deaths under the age of five is actually not too different between rural and urban areas. There are 1.3 rural deaths for every 1 urban death. In both rural and urban areas, the amount children dying, often of preventable diseases, is astounding (up to 20%).

Rural Life in Tanzania

After the Arusha Declaration of 1967, Tanzania became a socialist state. This resulted in stagnant economy, but helped cure corruption and political instability. However, Tanzania is faced with low rainfall and poor soil, worsening the life of people living in rural areas. This fits in to the larger African pattern of internal migration, where people move from rural areas to cities.

One factor that may explain the difficulty of rural life in Tanzania is the poor health services. The main health issue of Tanzania is, supposedly, the lack of outreach both in terms of medical supplies and equipment, and awareness of such diseases such as HIV/AIDS. 29% of all deaths in Tanzania are caused by AIDS. Also, malaria, the third leading cause of death in Tanzania, which mostly occurs in rural areas, accounts for 5.6% of all deaths in Tanzania.

However, urban life in Tanzania doesn't seem to be much better than rural life. The under-5 mortality rate for rural Tanzania is of 16.6%, whereas the same figure for urban Tanzania is still a whopping 14.2%. In addition, diarrhoeal diseases (4th leading cause of death in Tanzania) account for 3.6% of all deaths in Tanzania. Water quality, though, is equally poor all over the country.