India A look at the problem of overpopulation and its effects on health

 Indus Valley Civilization began around 7000 BC.  Middle Ages defined by power struggle between kingdoms.  East India Company established in early 18 th century.  Independent from UK rule in 1947.

 Population Size: billion people  25 states  19 major languages  100 dialects  6 religions  Thousands of castes and sub-castes

 According to ABC News, India currently faces approximately 33 births a minute, 2,000 an hour, 48,000 a day, which calculates to nearly 12 million a year  Population growth rate: 1.25 %  Birth rate: 19.89/1000  Death rate: 7.35/1000

50% of population lives on less than one dollar a day 48% of adult men are illiterate 62% of woman population are illiterate 53% of children under the age of 5 are malnourished 71% of the population have no access to sanitation 37% have no access to clean water Over 100 million child laborers

 Infectious diseases  High Infant Morality rate  Malnutrition  Inadequate drinking water  Poor Sanitation

 8% of all deaths in Mumbai are caused by Tuberculosis (TB).  TB is spread through the air.  One in two Indians infected with TB has diabetes, making it very difficult to prevent the spread and treat.  A diabetic is 5 times more likely to die from TB.

 1.7 million children below the age of 5 die every year with over half of those die within the first month  A girl under 5 is 75% more likely to die than a boy under 5, because of socio-cultural values

 “more than half of all children under the age of four are malnourished, 30 percent of newborns are significantly underweight, and 60 percent of women are anemic.” ◦ -World Bank Group-  5 states and 50 percent of villages account for about 80 percent of the malnutrition cases.  Cause of Malnutrition: Lack of adequate amounts of food

 India has 170 million hectares of farming land  Potential to produce among world’s highest crop yields  Main agricultural products: wheat and rice  Problems: ◦ Population expansion is removing farmlands ◦ Small fragmented land holdings ◦ Inadequate irrigation ◦ Depleted soils ◦ Proper storage ◦ Efficiency

 88% of population has access to some drinking water  25% of population has drinking water access on their premise ◦ Women collect the drinking water  67% of households do not treat their drinking water  1600 deaths per day due to poor sanitation  21% of communicable diseases are related to unsafe drinking water (37.7 affected each year)

 “India’s huge and growing population is putting a severe strain on off of the country’s natural resources” –Water.org-  Most water is contaminated by agricultural runoff and sewage  Water has large chemical deposits including Flouride and Arsenic  India’s water supply gets contaminated during monsoon season – surface is polluted  Water is used to grow rice and wheat.

 Rural sanitation coverage was estimated to have reached only 21% by 2008 –WHO-  Only 32% of rural households have access to their own toilet  Poor sanitation impairs the health leading to high rates of malnutrition and productivity losses  Growing population has a direct relationship with inadequate sanitation  Hand Washing Statistics: ◦ 53% wash after defecation ◦ 38% wash before eating ◦ 30% wash before preparing food

 20 Indian cities have over 1 million residents  Cities sewer systems were not built to handle large amount of people  City infrastructure is not suited to handle the current population size  75% of surface water resources are polluted and 80% is due to sewage alone  Poor sanitation is hindering India’s GDP

 Solve Illiteracy ◦ Increase level of eduaction  Sanitation Reform ◦ Clean up the cities  Improve Social System  Increase access to food

 62% of woman population are illiterate ◦ 48% men  The need to educate men is essential ◦ Historically, men are the ones in control of the relationship with women.  “Education is the only way to favor family planning acceptance” (Free world Academy, n.d)  Increase the access to education  Need for more private schools to balance problems in public schools

 Need to increase the amount of access to education and literacy ◦ Government should help/assist those who want to open schools and actually follow through  To increase investment: ◦ Redistribution of public resources is needed  Take money from the army ◦ Fiscal reform  Rebalance the budget  More contribution from the higher class  Education should teach men/women about contraceptives and pregnancy

 Create public health programs emphasizing hygiene. ◦ Hand washing with soap after defecating can decrease diarrheal diseases by 40% and respiratory infections by 30%. ◦ Implement these programs in schools to get people thinking about sanitation at an early age.  Improve water sources and hygiene facilities in school. ◦ Children are the most susceptible to diseases caused by poor sanitation.  Improve water pipeline system to increase the number of houses getting clean water. ◦ Decreases the burden of women and children to secure water.

 Increase access to publicly available toilets.  Improve and increase wastewater facilities ◦ Only 30% of the water is treated. ◦ Improve the Fluoride and Arsenic problems.  Improve the sewerage systems. ◦ Poor maintenance has led to overflow of raw sewage. ◦ The most populous cities’ sewage systems can’t handle their massive population.

 Create laws to stop the abuse against the lower caste population. ◦ There are caste classifications for college quotas and job reservations ◦ A better educated population allows people to move out of the slums.  Create women’s rights laws ◦ Women have an unequal opportunity in education, employment, and the right to be born. ◦ More educated and better paid women helps decrease malnutrition in children.

 Food is a necessity and malnutrition will be diminished with larger amounts of food available  Increase the productivity in agriculture ◦ New farming equipment ◦ Increase efficiency ◦ If productivity in farming is increased: farmers have less of need to have extra children to help out on the farm  Build better harvest storage areas ◦ 10% of each harvest is wasted due to inadequate storage  Increases in food supply leads to: ◦ Healthier people  Less need for couples to have more children to support them  Increase pro

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