Page 44 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Mbu Daniel Tambi , Peter Arung Etat: Implications of Access to Portable Water
For Child Health Production in Cameroon

Cameroon located around the equator and in the heart of Africa seems to suffer from
these characteristics. She experience irregular rainfall that have provoke swamps and
stand waters due to heavy runoff and poor infiltration in the forest zones (Yongsi,
2010). These have created an environment that favours the growth of harmful insects
(such as mosquitoes, tsetse fly, midges, scorpions, centipedes) and insect-borne
diseases (such as flea, tick, mosquito, and louse borne diseases). These have resulted
to illnesses such as malaria, river blindness, filariasis, ross river fever, plague,
leishmaniasis, dandy fever and chagas diseases to name a few. All these diseases have
ultimately reduces human life especially in the forest and coastal lands of Cameroon.

Due to climate change, the irregular nature of rainfall has resulted to the production
of toxic water, hence humans using this water to bath, drink and watch domestic
utensils consequently contact the diseases such as cholera, diarrhea, dysentery which
all weakens the human system making it vulnerable as well as increasing health
expenditure that also weakens the socioeconomic status of Cameroonians.
Generally, waterborne diseases are caused by pathogenic microorganisms that most
commonly are transmitted in contaminated fresh water. Infection commonly results
during bathing, washing, drinking, preparation of food, or the consumption of food.
Various forms of waterborne diarrhea diseases probably are the most prominent
examples, and affect mainly children in developing countries; according to the
WHO (2014) such diseases account for an estimated 4.1 percent of the total daily
life years global burden of disease, and cause about 1.8 million human deaths
annually. The World Health Organization estimates that 88 percent of that burden is
attributable to unsafe water supply; sanitation and hygiene.

In real terms, an unfavourable environment is a dilemma to its inhabitance. The
rationale of this issue is that the Cameroon labour market, needs men and women
that are sound in health and who can rightly contribute to increase productivity,
growth and the reduction of poverty. Therefore, from the foregoing, one can clearly
observed that water source strongly influences human life, especially child health as
they are fragile in nature. Further, Bastian (2009) noted that waterborne diseases can
have a significant impact on the economy both locally and internationally. People
who are infected by a waterborne disease are usually confronted with related costs
and seldom with a huge financial burden. The financial losses are mostly caused by
the costs for medical treatment and medication, costs for transport, special food, and
by the loss of manpower. Many families must even sell their land to pay for
treatment in a proper hospital. On average, a family spends about 10 percent of the
monthly households’ income per person infected.

44