Towards Better Health

Better health can be achieved basically by controlling disease-causing micro-organisms and their animal vectors and also by improving health facilities.

Control of Harmful Micro-Organisms

  1. High and Low temperature: Boiling or heating of food, pasteurization of milk, sterilization of medical instruments and freezing of food to reduce the activities of microbes to barest minimum.
  2. Food covering: Covering of food to prevent vectors and pathogens in the air from coming in contact with the food.
  3. Antiseptics: Antiseptic such as dettol, Milton, chlorine water, medicated soap and hydrogen peroxide destroy micro-organisms while others prevent the multiplication of the micro-organisms.
  4. Disinfectants: Disinfectants are stronger antiseptic. Examples are sanitas, Lysol and izal. They are used to disinfect hospitals warehouses and public buildings. Antiseptics and disinfectant have to be diluted to render them gentle or mild to the skin
  5. Salting: Salt is used to preserve food. When salt is applied to food items like fresh meat or fish, the micro-organisms are destroyed. The bacterial cells are plasmolysed due to the movement of water from the cells of the bacteria
  6. Dehydration: When foodstuffs such as fish and meat are dried, micro-organisms cannot thrive on them. Bacteria need water to survive. So dehydration prevents the survival of micro-organisms.
  7. Isolation of infected persons: Persons suffering from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and cholera must be isolated so as to prevent the spread of such diseases to other members of the community.
  8. Balanced diet: Eating balanced diet everyday helps to promote good health and high body resistance to diseases.

Vectors

A vector is an animal which transmits disease-causing organisms (pathogens) from the victim of that disease to another person. Species of mosquito, for example, serve as vectors for the deadly disease Malaria. Vectors may transmit micro-organisms from place to place or person to person either mechanically or biologically.

  1. Mechanical Method: The vectors carry pathogens on various parts of their bodies e.g. legs, wings, mouthparts, hairs, etc. The pathogens do not grow or multiply on the body of the vectors. Pathogens carried in this way include Salmonella typhi, Vibro cholerae and Entamoeba histolytica.
  2. Biological Method: The vector in this case becomes infected with the pathogen when it feeds on the body fluid of an infected person or animal. The pathogen develops and multiplies in the body of the vector which then infects a healthy person when it goes to feed. Thus part of the pathogen’s life cycle takes place in the body of the vector.

Controlling vectors

Mosquitos

Houseflies

Water snails

Black Flies

Maintenance of Good Health

For a person to remain healthy, he must maintain cleanliness around his environment. He must eat good food, drink clean and pure water, wear clean clothes and keep his environment tidy. This method will help a lot in preventing disease outbreak. However, keeping the environment clean is not the sole responsibility of single individuals. It involves the combined effort of the household, communities, nations and the world as a whole.

Some practices and measures that can be undertaken to improve health standards include proper disposal of refuse and sewage, maintenance of food and water, hygiene and the control of diseases through vaccination programmes.

  1. Refuse Disposal: Refuse disposal involves proper solid waste management to minimize the breeding of vectors and pests that can transmit diseases. Refuse disposal can be done through the following ways:
    • Provision of dust bins in strategic locations
    • Dumping in isolated areas far from human habitation
    • Burning in incinerators
    • Burying in sanitary landfill
  2. Sewage Disposal: Proper disposal of sewage is very important as domestic and industrial liquid wastes when allowed to accumulate in large quantities can pose serious health threats. Sewage disposal can be done through:
    • Community treatment process where sewage from various homes are collected and treated before being discharged into oceans or rivers
    • The use of septic tanks where water is used to flush faeces and urine into a big tank dug in the ground
    • The use of pit toilets where faeces and urine are passed into deep pit
  3. Water protection: Drinking water should be certified safe by local health authorities before it is supplied to households. Water should be protected through the following ways:
    • Addition of chlorine to kill microscopic germs (as done in water works)
    • Sterilization, e.g. by using ultra violet rays
    • Boiling of water before drinking
    • Filtration of water on cooling.
    • Addition of alum to water
    • Storage of water in clean containers
  4. Food protection: The protection of food from poisoning belongs more to the health ministry of the government than to the individual. The measures taken to protect food include:
    • Government agents sample and test imported food items like milk, tinned fish and meat to know whether they are still good for consumption
    • Sanitary officials also inspect eating houses like restaurants and hotels to see that the food eaten by the public is prepared and kept under reasonably hygienic conditions
    • Market authorities see to it that food items, as well as other wares for sale, are displayed and handled in fairly clean environment
    • Avoid exposure of food to flies and other micro-organisms
    • Locally, sanitary officials see to it that animals (cow, goat, sheep) slaughtered for public consumption are healthy and that they are processed in approved slaughter houses
  5. Control of Spread of Diseases Diseases can be prevented through the following ways:
    • Taking children through the various immunizations as prescribed by doctors
    • Eating of good food and balanced diet
    • Daily sweeping of surroundings
    • Maintaining personal hygiene
    • Living in well ventilated houses

Health Organization

Health Organizations are corporate (local and international) bodies concerned with the maintenance of good health of the people. International Health Organizations include:

  1. World Health Organization (WHO):
    • It gives technical aid for fighting diseases attacking numerous people at the same time(epidemic) such as yellow fever, cholera.
    • It is also involved in the standardization of drugs as well as diagnostic procedure.
    • It co-ordinates research programmes in all fields of health and makes the results known to all member nations.
    • It helps in maternal and child health care.
  2. United Nations Children’s Education Fund formerly United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF):
    • It helps to improve the health of children worldwide by producing routine health services.
    • It makes sure that vaccines are made available to world’s poorest children.
    • It helps to provide children's clothing and other needs.
    • It helps to improve the nutrition of under-nourished children.
    • It helps to feed destitute children.
  3. International Red Cross Society: It plays important roles in two major ways.
    In times of war:
    • It takes care of the injured.
    • It provides emergency aid to those in distress.
    • It provides welfare for the prisoners of war.
    • It provides transport for the evacuation of refugees.
    In times of peace:
    • Red Cross Society maintains maternal and child welfare clinics.
    • It provides help to victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes, flood etc.
    • It provides the general first aid to patients.
  4. Nigerian Medical Association (NMA):
    • . It helps in assisting in the training of medical and para-medical staff needed in the health care delivery.
    • It helps in monitoring the recruitment of well-trained doctors in hospitals.
    • It helps in alerting the nation when there is an outbreak of a disease.
  5. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO): Although, this is not directly a health organization, it assists health services indirectly by raising the educational standards of the people in developing countries.
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