The Struggle For Life

In an age where scientific discoveries are increasingly prevalent and the average life expectancy in developed countries seems to increase daily, it is shocking that people in third world countries can only expect to live about half as long as people residing in countries like Japan, which boasts one of the highest average life spans in the world.(Bell)  Interestingly, nine of the ten countries with the lowest life expectancy - Chad (49.44), South Africa(49.56), Guinea-Bissau (49.87), Swaziland (50.54), the Central African Republic (51.35), Somalia (51.58), Zambia (51.83), Namibia (51.85), and Gabon(52.06) - are all contained in Africa. For comparison, the average life expectancy during the Middle Ages (500-1500 CE) was 30 years.(Bell)

So why has there been such little progress made in the past 500 years?  We don’t have to look much further than the many poverty-stricken areas in the countries listed above to find an answer.  Many issues stem from poverty, including malnutrition and disease, problems that are exasperated by a lack of resources and perpetuate the poverty cycle.  Populations struggle to grow, as many of the deaths in these areas are concentrated in the age group of children under five.(Michaels)

Approximately 8 million children under the age of five die annually of inexpensively treatable diseases.(Michaels)  These illnesses are overwhelmingly caused by a lack of proper sanitation, clean water, and access to proper treatment.(Michaels)  For example, the World Health Organization reports that malaria, spread by mosquitos and prevalent in areas without clean water, claims a child’s life every minute.(Michaels)  Mosquito nets treated with insecticide would be an easy, inexpensive way to prevent the spread of this disease, but due to a lack of awareness and resources people in affected areas have not adopted this method of prevention.(Michaels)

Poverty and lack of sanitation also lead to malnutrition, which is another major factor in the low life expectancy of these nations.(Plenda)  This issue especially affects children and infants, as they are weaker and more vulnerable to illness and malnutrition-related illnesses.(Plenda)  Malnutrition in children can lead to diseases like diarrhea, which has a death rate of 0.05% and kills more than 500,000 infants and young children every year.(Plenda)  Of 4 million cases per year, it has been estimated that 94% are preventable through interventions to improve the living conditions in the affected area and increased sanitation would decrease the morbidity of this illness by 37.5%.(Plenda)

There have been measures put in place to solve the problems of rampant disease and malnutrition.  UNICEF, a global organization dedicated to helping children in impoverished areas, has helped to increase the vaccination rate by more than 400% in the past 35 years, which has decreased infant deaths from preventable diseases by 3 million annually.(Michaels)  One hundred and sixteen countries of the United Nations participating in the Millenium Development Goals plan have agreed attempt to decrease the percentage of the population without access to proper sanitation to 25%, decrease mortality rates in children under five by two-thirds, reduce the mortality rate among mothers by three-quarters, and halve the number of people living without improved sanitation.(Plenda)(Michaels)  These goals are admirable, but not all countries are developing quickly enough to meet the requirements set forth by the conference.(Plenda) Progress is slow, mainly because information and education alone are not enough to elicit change. Practices are deeply ingrained in a society, and it takes time and effort to change them.(Michaels)

Works Cited

Bell, John Michael. "Life Expectancy and Aging Populations." Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, vol. 1, Gale, 2016, pp. 360-365. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3628100054/GIC?u=los42754&xid=0d151ef4. Accessed 7 Mar. 2018.
Michaels, Pamela V. "Child Health." Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, vol. 1, Gale, 2016, pp. 73-84. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3628100019/GIC?u=los42754&xid=b80a6c45. Accessed 6 Mar. 2018.
Plenda, Melanie R. "Sanitation and Hygiene." Worldmark Global Health and Medicine Issues, edited by Brenda Wilmoth Lerner and K. Lee Lerner, vol. 2, Gale, 2016, pp. 575-583. Global Issues in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CX3628100083/GIC?u=los42754&xid=5ed98394. Accessed 7 Mar. 2018.