Download PDFWater is becoming scarce, and which fact is starting to have a negative impact on working class people’s health. Water should always be enough and available because it is a basic need, something that we cannot live without. Research shows that in the past 3 weeks there is a spread of cholera, and at least six cases confirmed in Gauteng. The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NCID) announced an outbreak of cholera in Gauteng on 01 March 2023 following six cases and one confirmed death in the province. Among the six cases, two infections happened locally.
Although the exact sources of these infections are not presently known, the NICD traces the original three cases in Gauteng to the current outbreak in Malawi. The cases involved a husband to one of the two sisters who travelled to Malawi and contracted the disease there, who was then infected. What is worrying is that the next two cases, apparently locally acquired, show no direct links to the first three and no travel history to Malawi.
Water is a means of survival as it is used for many reasons, firstly to drink and to bathe, which is the most important. What kind of environment will we have if people cannot bathe to keep themselves clean? Water is also used for cooking and for many other reasons. Experts state that within the next decade water will be one of the hardest resources to find and that it will be very expensive commodities as it will be scarce.
The economical background and climate change has a huge effect on the cleanliness of the water. This the reason why cases of cholera will keep increasing. With a combination of poor living conditions and the scarcity of water the working class and lower class are prepositioned to contract diseases and viruses
This article is an opinion piece submitted on 04 March 2023. The views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of Karibu! Online or Khanya College. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
