Water and Sanitation - Africa

What is Cholera  "It is an acute, diarrhoea illness caused by infection of the intestine with the toxigenic bacterium Vibrio Cholera  serogroup" Gaffga H N, (2007) .  It can cause death if not treated within hours. Britain and the battle with Cholera  Cholera first occurred in Britain in 1831, there were 4 major outbreaks in the next 30 years. The second outbreak in 1848 cost the lives of 53 000 people. There was no cure and people died in less then 12 hours. There were over 700 works published in the uk to try and answer what caused this disease. The general theory at the time was that it was spread through the air due to rotting animals and sewage.  John snow did not believe this, when the problem in soho near to where he lived he began to investigate. Snow S (2002 ) Instead of reading more text about Snows battle with finding the answer that caused the cholera outbreak in soho london I believe a short video clip will be more interesting. Is Cholera a major i

Access to clean and safe water should be a simple right that everyone has. In the western world we go about are daily life enjoying the benefits of clean water which can be accessed very easily from taps and not think about the fact that others in the world would consider this simple task of filling a glass of clean water direct from their home a luxury. In Africa this necessity of clean water isn't as simple as just opening a tap, many families have to walk long distances in the hope of securing safe water.  The act of going to the toilet is taken for granted in  the western world.  In Africa most people don't have access to a clean toilet, for billions of people they are defecating 'daily in plastic bags, buckets, agricultural fields and public areas'   Bartram et al., (2005). Heath problems due to poor water supply and sanitation is a significant problem which causes widespread poor health and illness across Africa  Tumwine, J.K. et al., (2002).  There are still