By Mofor Samuel
The various ways in which the environment interacts with health in the context of development to say the least have never been analyzed in depth in Cameroon.
The state of the environment and especially the trends that can now be observed, give few grounds for optimism in the years to come.
They should as a matter of fact spur us to intensify our still far from adequate efforts towards the protection of the environment through policies of sustainable development, for on this depend the health and ultimately the survival of living things and above all human beings that we are.
Human health is a vital cross- sectorial issue dependent on the continued availability of environmental resources and on the integrity of the environment. Recently environmental problems have acquired new dimensions.
Everywhere in the world, the environment is changing, as a result of pollution, loss of natural resources- water, land, air, vegetation and even genetic diversity. All around us we see the deleterious effects on health of environmental degradation.
The environmental changes to be faced in the coming decades in Cameroon will require concerted action on the part of the individuals, households, communities, agencies and the powers that be at all levels.
There is no doubt that for sustainable development to be achieved, the protection of the environment hence of health requires a global approach to control these factors-consequences of population growth, rising consumption, the role of the production and disposal of waste and the effects on poverty on the people- each of which must be examined in the light of local situation in any program of development.
This is a very long term objective whose attainment will require far- reaching and sustained changes in policies and practice at all levels. The seeking of advice from specialists on technical questions on the subject matter is an added advantage to policy makers to reach fully informed decisions of a political order. And it is only on this basis that as decision makers and keeping in mind as objective to carry through their mission, that the questions to answer will have a clear answer.
That much of Cameroon is heating up is not a hidden fact, that most the urban and semi urban settlements are experiencing a high degree of pollution is no hidden truth, above all, that we as individuals, households, communities, planners, decision makers and the different ministerial departments have been consciously or unconsciously contributing to this state of affairs is what we have got to write home about.
Today more than ever before, the focus whether at the level of the municipalities or at the level of the Ministries of Environment and Nature Protection, Forest and Fauna is on the tree and the protection of endangered species as far as animals are concerned. Tree planting has become a major activity in some municipalities to the extent that before a marriage or birth certificate is signed, the parties concerned must plant a tree first.
As far as the Ministries of Environment, Nature Protection and Forestry are concerned but the carrying out of tree planting exercise in the country and the control of the felling down of trees for timber logs, poachers are being tracked down and dealers in whole or parts of endangered species are brought to book for trading in endangered species.
It would seem as if much emphasis is being laid on tree planting and less is being heard about pollution- environmental pollution.
For example what is the essence of the owner of an industry or a factory that cannot treat and manage its waste and wastewater- toxic waste of course – taking part in a tree planting exercise whereas toxic waste emanating from his industrial facility does not permit both the tree, that he and many others planted, to grow because of environmental and atmospheric pollution resulting from poor handling and management of industrial waste.
In Cameroon, today, it is very difficult to understand which ministerial department is actually in charge of hygiene and sanitation or better still environmental sanitation. In some urban municipalities, one can read signboards like: “No dumping of refuse” by the Delegation of Urban Affairs, Council Authorities or simply “No urinating here” by Council Authorities. Years back it was the then MINAT, today MINTAD that launched the National Hygiene and Sanitation Campaign that one cannot really tell whether it was environmentally or politically motivated. Today some municipal authorities are in full scale war with some residents of their municipalities. Rather than just the single battle of clearing the major highways of unwanted structures, it has shifted to a series of battles with bulldozers coming in to rescue the light machinery used to clear the major highways as areas which hitherto served as residential areas have seen their residents forcefully evicted thanks to the heavy machinery and armed security operatives. Residents have been accused for illegally occupying state land or living on disaster prone areas or neighbourhoods.
While municipal authorities concentrate on this battlefront, HYSACAM, the Hygiene and Sanitation Company of Cameroon, has the Herculean task of evacuating household waste in some municipalities. Here either, things are not easy with HYSACAM as it appears that they are fighting a lost battle when one takes into consideration the indifference of the population of some communities whose municipal authorities have signed contracts with HYSACAM to help keep their municipalities clean.
Let’s leave MINTAD and the councils for other ministerial departments-Urban Affairs, Women’s Empowerment and Family Protection, Basic and Secondary Education, Higher Education, Public Health and even some government owned residential areas.
The million dollar question to start with is who is supposed to oversee the proper cleaning of communities- MINTAD, Urban Affairs, Public Health, Councils, Residents or HYSACAM? If all of them are involved, where does one start or end? Is there any form of multi-sectorial collaboration among them?
Or every institution is working independently of the other but expecting to arrive at the same result or obtain the same result?
Has the drift from Hygiene and Nature Study and Rural Science to Environmental Education completely wiped out the notion of cleanliness as far as personal and public hygiene are concerned in our primary schools?
Apparently the higher one climbs the academic ladder, the dirtier one becomes. If you doubt this, just pay a visit to some of our secondary schools and universities, particularly students’ residential areas to see things for yourself.
The issue of environmental sanitation has little or nothing to do with their agenda. The presence of Environmental Clubs does not help matters either. It seems as if the more enlightened one becomes as far as young people are concerned, the more they abandon healthy and clean habits for filthy and unclean ones.
What can the Ministries of Secondary and Higher Education say about this? Or do they mean it is the domain of the municipal authorities since they are the real landlords of our different municipalities?
Population it is said plays a very important role in any development activity.
Today in Cameroon, the population of the women folk is such that if one has to consider the quantity of household waste per head, then women are going to produce the greatest quantity giving that their population is more than that of the male folk. For example in those council areas that HYSACAM is found, what is their relationship with the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Family Protection (MINPROFF), at the local level as far as the handling and management of household waste is concerned? Or HYSACAM has decided to limit itself to the council authorities since it signed contracts with them?
They should bear in mind that cleanliness or dirtiness does not discriminate as far as the benefits and consequences are concerned. To cut a long story short both the councils and HYSACAM must consider MINPROFF as a vital partner to enable them to achieve their overall goal.
They should use every strategy to get the authorities of MINPROFF in their council areas to actively participate in this venture; they will not believe the result. Women can easily be mobilized through this ministerial department to rally behind the councils and HYSACAM thereby throwing their full weight behind the drive for a clean municipality and environment.
According to a 2002 Time Magazine report worldwide, more than a billion people do not have access to clean drinking water. In Cameroon, between 40and43% of the population does not have access to clean drinking water.
The situation can be attributed to some extent to nitrate rich run off, which comes primarily from fertilizer used for farming. Farmers seem to have no choice but to rely on chemical fertilizers and pesticide to meet society’s demands.
Illnesses which have their origins in environmental factors have a steady increase. Either most inhabitants do not have sewers or sewage flow directly into rivers, streams, lakes and the ocean without being treated.
There are also occasional oil spills in the ocean. For example the term “ecosystem” refers to the complex interaction of all organisms within a natural environment, including living and non-living matter. And so when talking about the overall health of these ecosystems, one must take into consideration the number of forest, freshwater and marine species they support.
The poor handling and management of these ecosystems exposes all and sundry to very negative health consequences. The main recipient of these consequences is the Ministry of Public Health.
One is almost made to believe that the hospitals are there to take care of environment-related illnesses. If not so why is it that a lot of focus and emphasis is laid on curative medicine than preventive and promotional medicine?
Today there is virtually no institution training sanitary inspectors but every year, health institutions keep on churning out medical and paramedical personnel. Most sanitary inspectors are on retirement and the few in active service are overwhelmed by their workload.
Finally the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection has decided to declare war on poaching and illegal logging activity and the Ministry of Public Health resigned to curative medicine with little or no activity in the area of preventive and promotional medicine. The end result is a high degree of pollution and very unclean environment. That is why for instance on “Keep Kribi Clean Day”, residents abandon the cleaning of the town to HYSACAM alone.
Worst still people keep on littering public facilities – beach, roadsides, squares and open spaces because HYSACAM workers will clean them.
Hardly would they carry their household waste to the collection points without hearing the blasting on the horn of the trucks even if the containers are so full and overlapping.
People have so upset the balance of life this that they threaten the very land that supports them. Will mankind ever learn to live in harmony with the environment? Indeed can the environment be saved someday?
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