Geographic+factors+and+impacts+of+two+diseases

Geographic Factors and Impacts of:
 * 1) Malaria
 * 2) Measles
 * 3) HIV/AIDS

//Describe the geographic factors affecting the incidence and spread of Malaria.// Geographic factors include: Physical/environmental, economic, social, political, social and cultural considerations that could either cause an increase in the number of people affected by the malaria, or the general spread of the disease in a given area. The Plasmodium Parasite that causes Malaria Characteristics of tropical conditions:
 * Malaria**
 * 1) Physical factors
 * 2) Tropical conditions. These include areas such as Sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Malaysia, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, and all the countries that lie 23.5⁰ north and 23.5⁰ south of the equator.
 * High temperatures of about 24⁰ C
 * High humidity, leading to dampness
 * High rainfall leading to stagnant waters in estuaries, deltas, irrigation channels, densely populated areas, etc.
 * 1) Enclosed spaces can also breed mosquitoes.
 * 2) Human factors
 * 3) Logging in the tropical rainforest. Logging is the cutting down of trees. This can help in the spread of mosquitoes. It modifies the physical conditions by increasing the temperature of a given area, providing good conditions for mosquitoes to thrive. It leads to the creation of stagnant waters because it will expose the forest to heavy rainfall, which can cause flooding or an increase in water collected in lakes and rivers.
 * 4) Mining. Mining leads to the clearance of the forest and the digging of pits, where water can be collected and stagnant for several days, thereby leading to the breeding of mosquitoes
 * 5) Agricultural projects such as irrigation. Water can be collected in canals for days, and paddy rice fields, which provides a breeding ground of mosquitoes.
 * 6) Social factors
 * 7) War and conflict. When there is conflict or war, sanitation in urban areas becomes poor because people would have migrated out of conflict zones, thereby leaving gutters choked with debris which can collect stagnant water.
 * 8) Demographic factor
 * 9) Mass migration of people

i. Covering open water tanks ii. Covering stagnant waters iii. By infilling redundant irrigation channels iv. Ponds and lakes should be stocked with fish to eat the larvae. v. Spray the tops of stagnant waters with oil
 * Impact of Malaria**
 * 1) It is very expensive to the individual, household and government. This can be seen in terms of doctors’ fees or the cost of education, the cost incurred in preventive measures such as bed nets, mosquito repellents, fumigating the environment. This can be an economic drain to the individual and the government. Other costs include public health expenditure for treatment of the disease and provision of medical facilities in affected areas.
 * 2) Loss of productivity for employers. According to WHO, 200 million dollars in productivity was lost from 2005 to 2010 due to malaria. Malaria can cause people to make mistakes in the workplace, loss of work hours, increased medical bills.
 * 3) It can negatively impact children’s education by disrupting the number of days they spend in school due to absenteeism as a result of malaria.
 * 4) Leads to loss of government revenue especially in the tourism industry since many tourists will avoid visiting tourist attractions with a lot of mosquitoes due to the fear of contracting malaria.
 * Management Strategies**
 * Protect humans from mosquito attacks
 * 1) The use of insecticides e.g. DDT, which has been effective in countries like Ecuador, Ethiopia, Thailand. However, there are negative consequences.
 * 2) Drug treatment such as Coartem and Artesunate Amodiaquin. However, the malaria parasite sometimes develop resistance to these antibiotics.
 * 3) Distributing treated mosquito nets.
 * Reduce mosquito population
 * 1) Kill the mosquito larvae by interrupting its life cycle.