Rivers and streams serve as a common source of water for all daily purposes in Bawa, from bathing and drinking to cooking and washing clothing, dishes and utensils. There are instances where small streams crossing multiple family compounds permit for simple contamination to serve as a source of disease downstream. Here lies one cause of the health issues in Bawa.
Due to the absence of any public or private sanitation facilities, the main solution found in many of the compounds is the use of a latrine [a hole used for urination and defecation]. Flies that may carry parasitic cysts and eggs live, feed and breed in the proximity of these latrines and contribute to the spread of disease as they come in close contact with the people of Bawa. Here lies another primary source of the health issues here.
As is the case with many villages in Cameroon, Bawa is home to numerous tropical diseases including malaria, amebiasis, giardiasis; and helminth infections like ascariasis, hookworm infections and schistosomiasis. The list goes on and on, however these are some of the most rampant and devastating to the community.
Of all these, malaria causes the greatest mortality, and at the present time there are no control programs in place to deal with these endemic diseases; nor is there a primary care health facility in Bawa, with the nearest clinc more than six miles away. This lack of proximity to primary care in Bawa has undoubtedly lead to the unnecessary critical sickness and death of its villagers and a very important part of the reason BawaHealth exists today.
Share