Introduction
Social determinants of health can be described as the environmental conditions in which individuals live, work, learn, age and worship that significantly affect their levels of health, life quality, functioning, risks and outcomes. Among the most essential social health determinant is a healthy and safe physical environment and a good power, money and resources distribution. Water is indeed a very important resource and thus it often pops up whenever social determinants of health are being discussed. To explore this issue in more elaborate terms, it is good that we use a case study.
Mountains beyond Mountains is a book by written by American author Tracy Kiddler. It is a biographical and non-fictional piece of writing that traces the endeavors of Paul Farmer, a renowned anthropologist and physician who is widely known for his humanitarian activities around the world. The book places focus on Farmer’s fight against tuberculosis in countries like Peru, Russia and Haiti.
In the latter country (Haiti), there is particularly one project that is brought into light in the book and that is the Peligre Dam. This is a man made dam located on Haiti’s central plateau along the famous Artibonite River. The dam was supposed to being light and advancement to the people of Haiti but it only brought about displacement and continuous flooding. As observed by Paul Farmer the dam had indeed brought damnation to the people in the area who he enthusiastically referred to as water settlers or water refugees. Farmer further adds that although the project was costly, it was an ultimate failure and it consequently caused unwarranted suffering to the inhabitants of the valleys behind the water reservoir that are now inundated. In brief terms, the residents claim that the dam brought them neither power nor electricity. The homes are plagued with constant blackouts and in fact, most of the dam’s benefits were accrued by large agribusinesses located downstream and that were owned by wealthy people. In addition, the dam caused hundreds of residents to be displaced from their homes to pave way for the dam construction. All these aspects have definitely had a significant impact on the lives of the Haitian residents in this area including their health status, for example, flooding brings about various health hazards for example cholera. The resident’s poverty level also means that they are not able to access health care.
Another exhibition of water as social determinant of health is in a documentary titled Rx for Survival that aired on PBS. Here, a story is told of an engineer who self handedly built a piped water channel system in a small Ugandan village. The system ultimately proved to very beneficial to the inhabitants of the village who experienced rapid population growth as a result of the renewed hope brought about by the provision of one of the basic essentials of life. The level of commerce in the village also improved significantly. The story in the documentary exhibits water as social determinant of heath in a positive light. This is unlike the case in Haiti where it was displayed in a negative manner.
Water is indeed a very essential aspect of the human life as seen above. However, water is most useful when it is clean and free from any form of bacteria. Unfortunately, clean water is not accessible in every part of the globe and as a result, many people usually contract water borne diseases after consuming water that is not safe for human consumption. An example of such a disease is cholera. This is a disease that occurs when a human’s intestine is infected with a bacterium known as Vibrio Cholerae. This bacterium is usually found in contaminated water. The bacterium can also be found in the natural environment in coastal waters and brackish rivers. The disease is characterized by leg cramps, vomiting and watery diarrhea. It causes electrolyte imbalance and rapid dehydration in a human being. The basic life cycle of the disease usually consists of the Vibrio Cholerae bacterium from contaminated water attaching itself to the human intestine where it causes interference in the natural flow of chloride and sodium. This ultimately causes the body to start secreting large water amounts which leads to severe diarrhea and loss of salts and fluids rapidly. If not treated, death occurs very fast. Treatment of the disease is usually done through oral rehydration using a specific solution that replaces the lost electrolytes and water.
Works Cited
Kidder, Tracy. Mountains Beyond Mountains. New York: Random House, 2003. Print.
"Rx for Survival: A Global Health Challenge | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 May 2013.
