HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE EFFECTS TO HEALTH IN NIGERIA...by Victor eke mba | 11-09-2017 19:27 |
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 Climate change effects on human health is a global experience but this year climate change affect me and my family so severely that my family of five members all got ill of fever and malaria which have been by the increase breeding of mosquitoes and insects in every area in my state due to change of weather into raining season that cause fill-up of gutters, pot-holes , bushes, etc with water and dirts. Not only that we suffered of sickness by mosquitoes and insects we also together with other people in country we suffered of flu, cold virus, nasty stomach virus etc, which cause certain changes to our voices, dryness at our faces and silk, weakness and less energy in our body due to the harshness of the weather caused by harmanttan haze . Dr lanre onigbogi a Nigeria doctor, said that harmanttan comes from Sahara desert and because of desertification of the desert, it surely has its bearing on climate change and health impact on the people and living object. ?As soil becomes hot, malaria organism rise up and find human body convenient and because of poor resistant by the human body, different kind of sickness will set in,? he said. Nigeria being one of the countries expected to be most affected by the impacts of climate change through sea level rise along the country?s 800 km long coast line, intensified desertification, erosion and flooding disasters, general degradation that has now become a common sight . As said by climate experts that global warming may bring some localized benefits in certain areas, but the overall health effects of a changing climate are likely to be overwhelmingly negative. Climate change also affects social determinants of health such as clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter. In Nigeria extreme heat or high air temperature and pollution contribute directly to death from cardiovascular and respiratory disease in human and their animals . According to World Health Organization (WHO) rising sea levels and increasingly extreme weather events will destroy homes, lives, and other valuables . More than half of the world population lives in 60km of the sea so people may be forced to move, which in turn heightens the range of health effects, from mental disorders to communicable disease. Last year a large number of people were displaced by flood across Nigeria communities, most especially in my community Abia state due to undevelopment and carelessness of the state government. Lives was lost, houses, schools, roads, hospitals etc were flooded and decrease in the state G.D.P which brought about poverty, sickness, and lack . Still by W.H.O " variable rainfall patterns are likely to affect the supply of fresh water. A lack of safe water can compromise hygiene and increase the risk of diarrhoeal disease, which kills 2.2 million people every year. In extreme cases, water scarcity leads to drought and famine. By 2090s, climate change is likely to widen the area affected by drought, double the frequency of extreme droughts and increase their average duration six-folds. The climatic condition strongly affect water-borne diseases and diseases transmitted through insects, snails, and other cold blooded animals. changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases and alter their geographic range . For example, malaria is strongly influenced by climate change, transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes. Nigeria in 2010 a malaria survey was conducted it revealed that about 52 percent of children aged between 6 months and 5 years are tested positive to malaria through Rapid Diagnostic Test . According to the Nigeria minister of health Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, the prevalence was higher in rural areas, estimated about 55.9 percent . He said "malaria is a major public problem in Nigeria, contributing a quarter of malaria burden in Africa and over 90 percent of the population in Nigeria are at risk, which is about 167 million of Nigerian. Malaria contributes 30 percent childhood mortality in Nigeria and contributes 11 percent of maternal mortality, In addition these reduces nigeria G.D.P by 1.5 percent annually". In Africa alone, one child dies every minute from malaria and it is estimated that malaria-related illnesses and mortality cost Africa's economy about $12 billion annually . Globally the World Health Organization estimates that in 2013, more than 198 million were infected with malaria and an estimated 584,000 died as a result of it . nearly 4 out of 5 casualties were children under five years of age. The disease presents a threat in about a hundred countries and territories throughout the world putting some 3.2 billion people at risk. These calls for a serious and committed help from federal and states governments, world organizations and unions, companies and industries, and every individual, so all must be on desk for a better global and personal health. As well-known every child and pregnant woman are at risk of serious illness if they contact malaria so we have to do something serious together. It is indeed a #call4climate don't ignore it, do something, this is for our Government. From the response of Nigeria government and some dignities to the recent climatic occurrences tells that the government had changed for good, these happened recentlySpeaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has condoled with the government and people of Benue State over the flooding that has displaced over a hundred thousand people in the state and destroyed properties in 12 local government areas. This was disclosed in a statement made available to the media by the Speaker?s Special Adviser on Media & Public Affairs, Turaki Adamu Hassan, on Saturday, September 2, 2017. The Speaker also expressed deep sympathy for all the victims who lost their livelihoods, homes, business, farmlands, and families of those who died in the unfortunate natural disaster. He disclosed that the House is in the final stages of providing legal framework to address natural disasters caused by the effects of climate change. ?I sympathise with the government and people of Benue State over the loss caused by the floods that ravaged their homes, farmlands and businesses and displacement of over 100,000 people from their homes. ?This is one flooding too many and emphasises the urgent need for targeted solutions to the problems affecting our environment. ?The House of Representatives has already gone far in this regard, with a Bill for the Establishment of an Agency dealing exclusively with Climate Change issues.? He further enjoined the ?National Emergency Management Agency, Ecological Funds Office and other relevant government agencies to urgently come to the aid of Benue State and the victims?. And also the the Chairman, National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has provided N250 million as relief assistance to victims of the devastating flood in Benue State. Dangote, who made the disclosure on Sunday, September 10, 2017 in Lagos, stated that this was in response to the request by the Benue State Government. He said that the committee had also approved the release of one of its completed Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) Hostels in the state as a temporary shelter for some of the displaced people. Former President, Goodluck Jonathan, had on October 11, 2012, inaugurated the Dangote-led 34-member National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation. The committee was charged with raising additional funds to support the government?s efforts to provide adequate relief and post- impact rehabilitation to persons and communities affected by floods in the country. Dangote said the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) had disclosed that more than 110,000 people in 24 communities, including Makurdi, were displaced by the recent flood in Benue. The committee chairman said that, asides the donation to Benue, his committee had also donated N150 million to provide relief assistance to flood victims in Anambra. Dangote, in a statement endorsed by Mr. Sunday Esan of the Corporate Communication Department of Dangote Group, said that the committee had also released N118 million to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). He added that this was to augment the N1.6 billion released by the Federal Government for procurement of food and non-food relief materials in aid of flood victims in 16 states. According to him, the states are Abia, Akwa- Ibom, Bayelsa, Ebonyi, Edo, Ekiti, Enugu, Abuja FCT, Kebbi, Kwara, Lagos, Niger, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau and Sokoto. He said that the committee was currently implementing the various projects in the 24 states affected by the 2012 nationwide floods. Dangote said that the rationale behind the projects was to assist the benefiting states to better handle future emergencies, including flooding. If more hands from the country gets involves in this fight we will certainly win this disastrous war and build sound health in the country, so I urge every to get involve.Written by Victor Eke Mba, Environmentalist and Tunza Eco-generation Ambassador to Nigeria. |
