UNIT FOUR
COMMUNITY HEALTH PROBLEMS
Major Community Health Problems
The major health problems in communities are infections and parasitic diseases. These include:
• malaria
• measles
• cough (whooping cough)
• Tuberculosis
• Upper respiration tract Infection
• Diarrhea/Dysentery and diarrhea disease
• Malnutrition
• Skin problems
• Cerebra spinal meningitis
• Yellow fever
• Complications of pregnancy and child birth
• Neonatal tetanus
• HIV/AIDS
Leading Causes of Death and Morbidity
1. Most common causes of death in Hospitals in Nigeria are: a) Infective and parasitic disease. b)
Diseases of the respiratory system. c) Accidents, poisons and violence.
d) Diseases of the circulatory system. e) Diseases of digestive system.
2. Common causes of death among children: a) Malaria b) Diarrheal diseases. c) Acute
respiratory infections (Upper and Lower) respiratory tract Infections e.g. pneumonia. d) Vaccine
preventive diseases e.g. diphtheria, pertussis (whooping Cough) tetanus, poliomyelitis, measles
and tuberculosis. e) Malnutrition f) HIV/AIDS- High prevalence rate about 300,000 people have
died of AIDS. (UNAIDS, 2005).
Factors Responsible for the Health Problems of the Community
These can be identified in the various facets of Community life.
1. Nutritional Status of the Population - Malnutrition is a common phenomenon in the
community. - Half of the world population is caught in the vicious cycle of ignorance, Poverty,
malnutrition (under nutrition) diseases and early death. - Malnutrition is an underlying factor in
more than 50o/o of childhood mortality - The number of undernourished people old and young in
the developing Countries are very high (450 million).
Population at risk in malnutrition:
• Children- Premature babies are easily susceptible to diseases e.g. malaria, diarrhea, twins or
multiple babies.
• Elderly persons.
• Adolescents who eat food in erratic fashion e.g. pregnant adolescents.
• Patients with chronic diseases.
2. Vectors Vectors are arthropods or similar invertebrates which transmit diseases to man either
directly or indirectly. Examples are: 1) Mosquito which causes malaria, filarial and yellow fever.
2) Housefly which causes typhoid, cholera and gastroenteritis. 3) Tsetse fly causes sleeping
sickness. 4) Rat flea causing plagues.
3. Environmental Factors
These include physical environment, topography, neighborhood and Industrial conditions. They
may have direct and indirect effect on community health.
a) Physical environment- reflection of level of health, orderliness, Cleanliness of a community
is usually useful index of health Consciousness and community development of health - related
matters.
b) Topography and climatic variations Factors within these domains include: vegetation,
temperature variations, types of soil and mineral deposits.
c) Neighborhood: - cohesion among neighbors and established traditions and culture d)
Industrial climate of the Community e) Atmosphere of place of work crease differences in
experiences of health.
4. Behavioural Factors
All socio-cultural practices exhibited in:
- Habits and culture passed down to the children help in formation of healthful habits
(Socialization Process).
- Gender inequality
- Beliefs
- Attitudes
5. Factors at Home
- Attitude and behavior of parent to parent, child to parent, and within siblings.
- Family budget
- Educational status of parent
- General sanitation of the home and its environment
6. Tradition and Prejudices
- Health bias - Religious bias - Religion and cultural behavior of a community will affect health
of its members. - Taboos in foods - May affect type of services sought for and received from
medical, nursing and auxiliary personnel.
7. Socio-Economic Status
- High/low income families - Poverty - Economic policies e.g. privatization, deregulation and
massive retrenchment of employees in public service - Income inequality - stress
8. Political Factor
- Willingness and unwillingness of people in government to give priority to health matters
(significant influence the health status of people in the community). - Political and social crises -
Corruption, crime and insecurity
9. Organizational Factors
- Overlap in functions may affect coordination and integration of services. - Bureaucracy.
Impact/Significance of the problems to the health of the Community
These include:
1. High morbidity among, children and adult.
2. High mortality
- Infant mortality
- Childhood mortality\maternal mortality
3. Dependency ratio is increased
4. Low productivity leading to retrenchment
5. Decreased life span
6. Increased rate of handicapping conditions/disability
7. Drain on family/community resources
- Medical care costs
- Hospital costs
- Costs of drugs and appliance
8. Nutritional impact
a) Reduced food supply because of disability or death of food producers and disability or death
of food purchasers
b) Inadequate food preparation because of disorganization and result of ill health
9. Social impact
- Short term loss due to family and Community disruption caused by acute illnesses.
- Long-term loss due to chronic diseases or debilitating injury
- Loss of security )
10. Environmental impact Climatic influences:
- Relation of drought to nutritional diseases e.g. PCM (protein, calorie, malnutrition).
- Relation of flood conditions to diseases e.g. malaria.
11. Migration and urbanization
a) Relation to the social system of the community.
b) Effect of disruption of family system by occupational injuries and chronic illnesses.
12. Physical and biological impact such as water supply, housing, waster disposal, vector
infestation e.g. - Effect of overcrowding on communicable diseases - Relation of inadequate
water disposal on the impact of Bilharzias.