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Sunday, October 18, 2009

Climate change effects in East Africa: health vulnerabilies in Ethiopia


The last few years especially the last decade has faced more challenges on the life in East Africa due to the extreme climate change effects.  In 2008, from 21-27 September, the Ethiopian health ministry reported 634 new cases and one death in Afar, Amhara, Somali, Oromiya, Southern regions and in the capital, Addis Ababa. The UN Office website: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86479# , highlight the alarming situation happened in Ehtiopia, last as recent evidences of climate change effects.  
WHO noted that nutrition surveys conducted in Amhara, Oromiya and Southern regions between July and September had revealed "serious" to "normal" conditions, with global acute malnutrition ranging from 10.8-12.8 percent in parts of Amhara and Oromiya, indicating a serious nutritional status.
                  
  The outbreak of diarrhoea is mainly concentrated on the pilgrims to and from from holy sites in Addis Ababa and it is reported that the holy water sites are the source of infection and also the infected ponds, wells and rivers.
                      
  Erratic and late rains, failed agricultural production, increased prices for basic food grains and the non-availability of food materials to the most needed people in the rural villages and the lack of support from the international food supplying agencies in war foot manner have been considered as the main reasons for the food crisis and the realted health risks in the recent times in Ethiopia. The climate researchers have not done their basic adaptation and mitigation straegies to work out for local authorities to controll the health and food shortage risks in the rural Ethiopia.

5 comments:

  1. Hello, this is true with many developing countries in the world. We need to have appropriate in situ technologies such as Riverbank filtration and creating awarness among local people in order to improve the helath conditions of vulnerable people. YOu have brought out very good information and NGO's and other agencies working in these parts should focus to address these issues. If you need more information on RBF, you would contact and get the information, circulate among people working on these issues in Ethiopia.

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  2. Hi Dr. Choudri,
    We can do RBF in Ethiopia also. We need to work on that. TERI has done very well. Pollution of surface and ground water is a great problem in Ethiopia and it can be supported.
    Thanks, Dr.Rajeevan.

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  3. Supported with scientific methiods like RBF.

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  4. The idea of a politically united Africa, Pan-Africanism, has been around for over a hundred years. While the pan-african movement has been involved in anti-slavery and anti-colonial struggles and the fight against Apartheid South Africa, there has never been any significant movement towards a political unification. However, recent historical events, quite unexpectedly, may provide an impetus in this direction.

    http://www.watchinghistory.com/2009/11/african-union.html

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  5. in this century the variations in the climate is not in equlibriyum.the main reason for this situation is polution and deforestation.we have to create awarness among people

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