Don't Blame the Poor for Diseases of Poverty

Diabetes is often referred to as a disease of the relatively affluent because it can be caused by some of the habits that are common in better off, urbanized areas. It can be associated with foods that have high levels of sugar, often highly processed foods, along with a sedentary lifestyle.

However, it can also be a disease of the very poor, those who have little choice over which staple food they rely on for almost all of their nutritional needs. In Tanzania and Kenya, for example, many people rely on staples that are high in starch, and little else. Maize, white rice, white bread and a small number of other foods can make up the bulk of the daily diet of most people.

An article in the New York Times may give the impression that there are lots of Africans suffering from diseases of affluence. I'm not sure why this article is about such a small sector of the East African population, though it may well be true that there are more wealthy people now than before. But diabetes is far more common than affluence.

I accept that the article is quite clearly about the African middle class, but the association of diabetes with increasing wealth is disingenuous. There are people suffering from diabetes who are neither affluent, urbanized nor sedentary. Are we supposed to see people in such circumstances as being responsible for their suffering from the disease?

The same article mentions lung cancer. One of the biggest killers in developing countries is acute respiratory conditions. This is not because most people smoke cigarettes, live close to a polluting but highly lucrative (for them) industry, live in a city or do anything else that relates to affluence. It is because they are exposed to living conditions that render them susceptible to serious lung problems. It is also because health facilities are poor and inaccessible.

In fact, if any generalization can be made about diarrhea, water-borne diseases in general, nutritional deficiencies and acute respiratory conditions, it is that they affect more babies and infants than adults. In adults, respiratory conditions affect women more than men. Also women and children are far more likely to be living in poverty than men.

The majority of people do not have access to private transport, some don't even have access to public transport. Most do not work in offices, most don't even have formal jobs of any kind. Most still have to walk to health facilities and social services, or even do without them. There are, presumably, risk factors for cancer, heart disease and strokes that relate to poverty as well as to affluence.

Urbanization has been a trend for a long time but it is unlikely to contribute that much to diseases of affluence in East Africa. Urban dwelling poor people are probably even more deprived than rural dwelling poor people and they face additional health hazards that those in rural areas don't face. These hazards include air quality, pollution, road traffic accidents, occupational hazards, violence and others.

I don't wish to belittle common health conditions, regardless of who suffers from them. But it is poor people who need better and more accessible health services, whether urban or rural dwelling. And many people are suffering from preventable and curable conditions that relate to their diet, their environment, their economic circumstances and adverse social conditions, not just from their 'lifestyle'.

An article about health in Zimbabwe illustrates the point: "70% of diseases and deaths in the country, caused by malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria and pregnancy-related complications, are preventable." Similar figures can be found for Kenya and Tanzania. It's a popular game in the press, in development and in politics to deflect attention from the problems people face that are beyond their control and to concentrate on issues that are, ostensibly, a matter of individual responsibility. There is a lot of public health work that needs to be done. Poor countries are not 'like' rich countries when it comes to health.