Water and Sanitation Among Syria - PDF
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Added on 2021-05-31
Water and Sanitation Among Syria - PDF
Added on 2021-05-31
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Running head: WATER AND SANITATION AMONG REFUGEES IN SYRIAWater and Sanitation Among Syria’s Internally Displaced Persons Student’s NameInstitutional Affiliation
WATER AND SANITATION AMONG REFUGEES IN SYRIA 2Water and Sanitation Among Syria’s Internally Displaced Persons IntroductionHealth is a universal human right. Every person on the globe is entitled to the highest attainable physical and mental wellbeing (Abbara et al, 2015). Provision of healthcare services is largely a function of the government in most countries. Health is a very key area of interest in any population since it directly determines lots of factors such as productivity. Ifthe workforce is to be productive, they should enjoy both physical and mental wellbeing (Almoshmosh, 2015). If this wellbeing is not achieved, the workforce is weak and unproductive. Ill health also leads to higher costs of healthcare leading to disease burden. There are several factors that determine health. These could be political, social, economic etc. For one to fully understand a healthcare system, they must consider all these factors that play together to influence health. It is very unlikely to find a situation where only one factor determines health. In most situations, it is an interaction of various factors that influence health. One category of these are the social determinants. Social determinants of health imply the conditions that people are born into, grow, live. It also includes the conditions in which people work and age. These factors are greatly shaped by the how money, power and resources are distributed. The distribution of resources on the international, national and local levels inevitably determine the health status of individuals (Adler et al, 2016). Social determinants of health play the greatest role in shaping health. According to Braveman and Gottlieb (2014), due to these determinants there exists inequalities between countries and regions in as far as provision of quality healthcare is concerned. Some proportions of the population are more at risk of ill health than others. These include the children below the age of five years. Another category is the people displaced
WATER AND SANITATION AMONG REFUGEES IN SYRIA 3from their homes due to factors such civil wars. These groups face unique challenges that make them more susceptible to more health. The social determinants of health are also varied and include colonisation, urbanization, social exclusion and water and sanitation. This essay is going to discuss water and sanitation as a social determinant of health among internally displaced persons in Syria. The essay is going to demonstrate that this section of the population is affected by water and sanitation challenges and show why the selected population is relevant. In addition, possible solutions to the negative impacts posed by water and sanitation challenges will be discussed. Social Determinant of Health and the Population to be Discussed.As indicated in the introduction, the social determinant of health that will be discussedis water and sanitation. Around the world, there are great improvements made when it comes to access of clean water and sanitation (Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014). However, there is still a lot more to be done to make sure that the largest proportion of the world’s population has access to clean water and sanitation. Today, there are about 2.4 billionpeople in the world who do not utilise sanitation that is improved. It is also saddening that another 663 million of the world’s population do no have access to the improved sources of water (Lonergan, 2018). To demonstrate the global importance of improving water and sanitation, it would be appropriate to note that more than 800 children lose their lives each day due to poor water and sanitation (Marmot and Allen 2014). Water is an indispensable component of the human diet. There is therefore great need to improve the water and sanitation to avoid infections and illnesses.The chosen population is refugees who are internally displaced in Syria. There has been a civil war in Syria since 2011. This war has posed great challenges to the people living in Syria. The war has resulted to at least 6.0 million ordinary people being internally
WATER AND SANITATION AMONG REFUGEES IN SYRIA 4displaced (Piper et al, 2017). Another 5.6 million has fled out of the country to seek refuge elsewhere. Before the war began, the largest proportion of the population (more than 90%) ofSyria had access to clean water and sanitation. In the present day, less than half of the population has access to clean water and sanitation. Factors such as explosion of the water pipes and displacement from homes have contributed to this situation. In addition to the challenge of water and sanitation, healthcare in general has greatly deteriorated. For instance, the vaccination coverage prior to war was estimated to be 90%. In the current day, the rate has dropped to below 50% in some regions of the country (Sikder, Daraz, Lantagne and Saltori, 2018). The internally displaced persons have more challenges when it comes to the issue of water and sanitation. Impacts of Poor Water and Sanitation on Internally Displaced Persons in Syria.As seen in the discussion, water and sanitation has greatly deteriorated due to the civilwar experienced in the last seven years in Syria. Compared to the situation before the crisis, availability of drinking water has reduced to an average of half. In some regions, such as As Salamia and Aleppo the conditions are worse with the water availability levels having reduced to about 80% of the situation prior to crisis (King, 2015). The major causes of the deterioration of the water and sanitation levels are going to be mentioned next. One is that thecurrent water supplies are inadequate to supply the large number of people. Certain groups such as the internally displaced are mainly affected due to their large numbers. The second major cause is the shutdown of electricity supply systems. The shutdown is largely deliberate and causes significant disruption of water supply. The third and final major cause is damaging of the gas-fed power generation system. It goes without saying the densely populated regions are likely to experience greater challenges. This is the case with internally displaced people. With this general overview of the situation the impacts of poor water and sanitation among the internally displaced persons are going to be outlined.
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