Public Health

How do we stay healthy?

Even before you were born you went to the doctor…

• In the United States, women usually begin seeing a doctor or midwife before their baby is born

• Midwives are not doctors, but are trained to deliver babies

• When a woman has a baby, she usually is in the hospital or with a midwife. This way, there are people there if anything goes wrong

• Woman bring their babies back to the doctor while they are very little for check-ups

In parts of Africa…

• …A pregnant woman might not have the money to see a doctor, or there may not be a doctor near where she lives.

• This often means babies are born at home.• The World Health Organization says only half

the babies born in Africa are delivered with a doctor or midwife there during the birth

• The World Health Organization also says that around the world 4 million babies die in the first 28 days of their life, called the

‘neo-natal period.’ • Many of these deaths would

not happen if the baby had gone to a doctor• Over 25% of these deaths are in Africa

Growing up

• Growing up, kids need proper nutrition! They are building the bodies they will have as adults!

• Bad nutrition not only affects a kid’s body, but their brain too.

Food

• In Africa, many kids are under-nourished. This is usually because their parents cannot afford to buy the proper food or cannot keep their crops going if there is a drought or bad weather.

• This not only affects their bodies, but how well they can learn too!

Water

• Even more important than food is water.• Without water we die…• As we talked about yesterday, many towns in

Africa do not have water pipes to bring water into houses.

• Kids often have to go find water- walking to a well or river that may be many miles away

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3299/3306247074_5897e6d8b0.jpg

Water

• But in the water, there are often microscopic parasites.

• In the United States, water goes to a treatment facility before entering your house to be cleaned

• In parts of Africa, water is not treated- meaning the parasites get into your stomach and can make you very sick

Getting sick….

• In the US, many people are able to visit a doctor if they get sick

• However, in parts of Africa, families may not live near a doctor or have the money to afford a visit

• This means many people get very sick from diseases that would not kill us here on Cape Cod.

• In the US, children also learn the importance of washing their hands before they eat or after they go to the bathroom- and have access to soap and water!

HIV/AIDS

• HIV/AIDS is a virus • Once a person gets HIV/AIDS, they cannot get

rid of it• In the US, many people who are HIV positive

can get medicine, call ARVs, and live with HIV for years

• In parts of Africa, people don’t know if they are HIV positive because they can’t get tested, or don’t want to be tested

• Even if they know they have HIV/AIDS, they may not be able to afford the ARVs

• Mothers who have HIV can pass it to their babies, both while they are pregnant and if they are breast feeding

Malaria

• Malaria is a disease caused by a vector that is carried by mosquitoes.

• When a mosquito infected with malaria bites, it puts the vector into your blood

• When you get sick from Malaria, it feels like the flu

Malaria

• Most people do not die of Malaria, they die of dehydration from being so sick

• People prevent malaria by sleeping under bed nets to keep mosquitoes off them when they sleep

• Most mosquitoes that carry malaria come out at night

Bed Net

Help?

• Similar to when we talked about infrastructure, organizations, such as the ones you are looking at for your project, are trying to help by providing bed nets, soap, ARVs, wells, etc

• In Africa, people are getting upset- asking governments to change and help