HEALTH SECTOR

Health and Nutrition

The health of the people cannot be overlooked since a healthy population is essential fordevelopment. The contribution of the people as far as development is concerned is very important, hence interventions must be introduced where the health needs of the people are lacking. During the survey, it was realised that the contribution to good health needs of the people is constrained by problems such as inadequate health facilities and the prevalence of diseases. Table 2.13 shows the location of the few health facilities in the district.

TABLE 2.13: HEALTH FACILITIES AVAILABLE

Facility

No.

Location

Health Centre

2

Bosuso

MCH/FP Centre

1

Begoro

Private Maternity Home

1

Bosuso

Mission Clinic

1

Begoro

Private Clinic

2

Begoro

Other problems that were identified from the survey were poor accessibility to health facilities. About 27.4% of the people complained about high transport cost to the nearest health centre. About 11.9% of the people have problems in acquiring drugs because of its cost. As much as 54.2% also complained about high charges at the hospitals.

Diseases that are prevalent in the district are shown on table 2.14 in order of frequency of occurrence as reported in 1996 by the District’s Health Management Team (DHMT). Table 2.15 also shows diseases in order of frequency of occurrence as was gathered during field survey in 1997.

TABLE 2.14: MAJOR DISEASES (DHMT)

Diseases

Percentage

Malaria

58.9

All Other Diseases

11.18

Skin Diseases

8.30

VRTI

5.93

Gastroentevitis

4.28

Acute Eye

2.36

Intestinal

2.29

Measles

2.9

Anaemia

1.7

Rheumatism

0.67

TABLE 2.15: MAJOR DISEASES (SURVEY)

Diseases

Percentage

Malaria

 

33

 

 

Stomachache

 

16.3

 

Rheumatism

 

10.9

 

Others

 

8.1

 

Piles

 

7.9

 

Boil

 

 

6.3

 

 

Eye

 

6.3

 

Bilharzia

 

 

6.3

 

Guinea Worm

 

2.2

 

Hernia

  

1.8

The difference in the two tables is due to the fact that, the DHMT report was based on diseases that were reported to the health centres and clinics whiles the survey recorded those who do not report to health centres in addition. This shows the reluctancy of the people to attend to health centres due to accessibility problems earlier enumerated. The health survey in the district revealed among other things the following:

  • Malaria is the predominant disease (33%)
  • 32% of the children between 0-5 years are malnourished
  • Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) delivery is 46% of all deliveries
  • Only 8.6% of all new births weighed, had a standard weight of 2.5kg
  • Doctor-Patient ratio is 1:103,711 as compared with the national figure of 1:12000
  • Nurse-Patient ratio is 1:4120

    Table 2.16 below shows the types or kinds of health staff available and their number in the district.

    TABLE 2.16: HEALTH  PERSONNEL

     

    Health Personnel

     

    Percentage

     Doctor

     

     

     

    1

     

     

     

     Nurses

     

     

    25

     

     Ward Assistants

     

     

    1

      Orderlies

     

     

     

      Scavengers

     

     

    6

      MCH/FP

     

     

     

     

    25

     

     

     

     Nutrition

     

     

     

    1

     

      Disease Control

     

     

     

    2

     

     

     Leprosy

     

     

     

    2

     

     

     General Nurses

     

      

     

    8

    In response to waste disposal measures about 25.3% of the people use unorganized refuse dumps and this has the capability of breeding mosquitoes and other diseases

     

     
 

Date Created : 11/24/2017 5:43:11 AM