adminAlthough there are many problems faced by the developing countries of the world, the two areas that are of most concern are food and water supply, as well as diseases.
Natural hazards such as earthquakes, volcanoes and floods also pose great threats to the developing world, as they often do not have the resources to cope with such disasters.
Food and water supplies
Water is essential for life and yet nearly one third of the population of the world do not have access to safe drinking water.
Despite not being clean, this water is used, and so contaminated water contributes to many of the devastating diseases that are outlined in the next section. It is often the rural areas of these countries that lack the clean water, and they are usually the areas furthest away from medical help if people contract diseases. Aid agencies have establishing safe water resources as one of their primary targets when they give aid to a country.
Food shortages are also common throughout the developing world.
In particular are the countries of Africa such as Ethiopia and Sudan, where droughts wrecked the harvest and caused millions to die of starvation.
Diseases
There are many life threatening diseases that affect huge numbers of people in the developing world. Three of the most common are, bilharzia, cholera and malaria.
These threaten over half a billion people in the world.
Transmitted in stagnant water by parasitic worms which originate from human waste and then grow within, bilharzia snails before seeking a human host. They break the skin and enter the bloodstream.
The worms lay eggs within the human causing many internal problems, especially in the bladder. Cholera, it is prevalent in unsanitary conditions and is caught by drinking water or eating food contaminated by the waste of people carrying the disease.
The wastes contain the infective bacillus part of the disease, which causes diarrhoea, vomiting and cramps. All can lead to death through the loss of many vital body fluids.
Malaria, a disease carried by mosquitoes which threatens 40 percent of the population of the world.
The main areas where malaria is found is in central and south America (the Amazon Rainforest only), central and southern Africa, India and south-east Asia. Parasites are transmitted to the human’s bloodstream during a mosquito bite.
These live in the persons liver destroying blood cells, causing fever, and even death!
Natural hazards
Natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanoes have a devastating effect on developing countries, as they tend not to have the resources available to cope with such disasters.
Buildings are easily knocked down, medical services are poor and rescue efforts often come too late, especially to remote areas. – www.s-cool.co.uk.
Online Reporter