Ahliyah Williams 

07/22/19

Dr. Hinks 

Help Received: None Ahliyah Williams 

Cholera is the Shit, Literally!

Societal/ cultural factors have managed to enhance the ability for cholera to spread. Societal factors such as gender dicrimination and the lack of investment for basic sanitation systems has been leading causes throughout the years to how cholera became a pandemic. Cultural effects such as religious public festivals and religion have led to the ability of cholera to spread as a pandemic. Cholera was once a pandemic that spread throughout different countries for years until just recently when cholera became an epidemic resulting from 

Socially, gender roles come into play when speaking on the spread of Cholera. In countries such as India, women are subject to rape and assault when they are in need to release themselves. The reason they are so easily targeted is because these women are not in the safety of their own homes, they are literally forced to use the bathroom outside because there are no toilets in the homes of many women in rural India. In an Ad called, #EveryWomansRights, woman are shown verbally attacking a few men that are about to release themselves outside. The indian women in this video are basically trying to get a point across that no man should be able to comfortably use the bathroom outside if a woman is getting assaulted or raped when they have no choice. Something as simple as using the bathroom outside can spread cholera. According to UNICEF, “India has nearly 200,000 diarreheal deaths a year”. Public defecation is a factor to many of those deaths. This becomes a pandemic issue because people across the world are experiencing the same problems. In Africa, most people do not have access to basic sanitation necessities such as toilets. It’s not even a thing that is specific to gender, its among everyone, including men. An article by Lonely Planet says there are two types of toilets in Africa, “The Western style, with a bowl and seat (common in most midrange or top-end hotels and restaurants); and the African style, a hole in the floor that you squat over. You might even find a combination of the two, with a Western-style toilet bowl propped over a hole in the floor.” Cholera among these rural and poor countries are spread so easily by lack of care or investment into basic sanitation systems, such as toilets. Culturally, public events in places like India have led to the spread of cholera. There is a “Festival of Color” in India that is held to gather many people together for the most part bathe in one whole body of water, the Ganges River.. When people are swimming, bathing, etc,  in this water they are also peeing or even may defecate. These people believe that they are ‘purifying’ themselves due to their Hinduism beliefs that the water of the Ganges can ban off any bad spirits especially health risks. This makes it extremely harder to help these people. John Snow, a British physician, also known as the “Father of Modern Epidemiology”, was able to find the source of the outbreak of cholera by following cases in London. He was able to get rid of the causes of cholera spread, contaminated water well pumps. That information led him to discover that cholera isn’t just contagious from persons to persons, but by water which gave him the name, “Father of Modern Epidemiology.”  

Cholera has managed to become a pandemic. In total there has been seven global pandemics of cholera. It made its way from India to much of Southeast Asia and East Asia. It even spread further than Asia making its way to the Middle-East. A pandemic means that a disease is spread worldwide or over a whole country. still something and even though not a pandemic worldwide its still showing up in africa as an epidemic. Cholera is now an epidemic in Haiti, and endemic in many countries. Hati is a perfect home for Cholera. With Hati being “the most poorest country in the Western Hemisphere”(CNN), it’s no shock to hear that Cholera is attacking it the most. Being the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere means that poor to no sanitation is prevalent, meaning that cholera is bound to spread and stay as an epidemic. Especially when you add that much of haitians food come from water or are cleansed by water that is contaminated. The most updated case of cholera in Haiti is explained by Rebecca Hersher. She says that Haiti’s capital doesn’t even have  a sewer system. The fact that sewer systems being contaminated and that Haiti doesn’t even have a sewer system at all just makes it an even better homes for cholera. 

In conclusion, the cultural effects such as religious factors and public events has contributed to the pandemic spread of cholera. Also, social factors like gender discrimimnation and implementing basic sanitary systems in the household are both contributions to the spread of cholera worldwide. These are all caused by a multitude of things including high poverty rates especially. Physicians such as John Snow is just one of many people who continuously searched to find  The epidemic of cholera in Haiti is still a problem due to Haiti’s very high poverty rate. Sanitation nor clean water is accessible in Haiti making it such a hotspot for cholera to continue to be an epidemic in that country. 

References

Cholera in Hati. (CDC).

Toilets. Lonely Planet.

Cleaning up a public health threat- the River Ganges. BMC.

(2017) Cholera. History.com

Facts about Haiti. CNN

EveryWomansRights. Astral Pipes.