Main illnesses suffered
The cramped conditions of the slums coupled with the scarcity of clean water and sanitation make these areas highly successful breeding grounds for a wide range of diseases. Limited education means that even preventable diseases are often a major problem, and epidemics can develop with devastating results.
Dysentery/ diarrhoea
Regardless of the initial water quality, widespread unhygienic practices during water collection and storage, poor hand washing and limited access to sanitation facilities mean that in slum areas, spread of diarrhoea-causing germs from faeces to food is very common. Although diarrhoea is easily treated by rehydration methods, people do not always have the knowledge to deal with it in this way. More serious health problems such as dysentery or cholera can cause severe dehydration so quickly that it results in death.
Tuberculosis
TB is spread via droplets from an infected person who coughs, sneezes or speaks near someone else. The cramped quarters of the slums mean that the disease spreads rapidly from one person to another. People are also more susceptible to the disease when their general health is poor, so once again, slum dwellers are at risk. TB is particularly dangerous when contracted by pregnant women as it can harm both them and their unborn children. Contracting TB also has social implications for people in the slums, as there is a stigma attached to the disease. The treatment of TB is a long process requiring multiple forms of antibiotics over several months, but it is easily prevented by vaccination programmes.
Typhoid
Typhoid is spread from person to person by contaminated food and water, and so it can be a problem in areas of poor hygiene. The disease can be prevented by vaccination, although this is not an option for many slum dwellers who do not have access to the kind of healthcare provided in Asha slums. Typhoid can be a serious, potentially life-threatening, disease and although it can be treated by antibiotics, they may not be readily available. Recovery can take some time, particularly when additional health problems are present.
Maternal and child health problems
Although the government provides antenatal care and facilities for safe delivery of babies, many women in slums either can't afford to travel to receive this care, or are discouraged from leaving the slums by their families. As a result, the mortality rate is the highest in the world, with 54 women dying out of every 1,000 who give birth. Untrained midwives are unaware of how to avoid infection and so many newborns die of tetanus following the umbilical cord being severed with sharpened stones or used blades. Sexually transmitted infections and the accompanying health complications are very common due to lack of education and again, the women are often reluctant to seek medical help for their conditions.
Malaria, Dengue Fever and parasites
Open sewers are just one of the unsanitary aspects of slum conditions, and these cause serious problems by contaminating water. In addition to dysentery, cholera and other preventable diseases, the water contains parasites such as hookworm, whipworm and roundworm that infect the slum dwellers and children in particular. As drainage is poor, large areas of stagnant water form perfect breeding conditions for the mosquitoes which can spread malaria and dengue fever.
