Social services in Himachal Pradesh

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Over the last 40 years the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh has witnessed much improvement in public health facilities.[ citation needed ]

Himachal Pradesh State in northern India

Himachal Pradesh is a state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is bordered by union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on the north, Punjab on the west, Haryana on the southwest, Uttarakhand on the southeast, and Tibet on the east. At its southernmost point, it also touches the state of Uttar Pradesh. The state's name was coined by acharya Diwakar Dutt Sharma, one of the state's eminent Sanskrit scholars.

Public health preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through organized efforts and informed choices of society and individuals

Public health has been defined as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the health of a population and the threats it faces is the basis for public health. The public can be as small as a handful of people or as large as a village or an entire city; in the case of a pandemic it may encompass several continents. The concept of health takes into account physical, psychological and social well-being. As such, according to the World Health Organization, it is not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

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Hospitals

In 1989, there were around 899 public health institutions, including state hospital, twelve district hospitals, 189 primary health centres, besides mainstream "Western" and ayurvedic dispensaries and specialized medical institutions. In order to meet the shortage of doctors, a medical college was established in 1967, which is having post-graduate teaching facilities in some branches.
Death rate has now come down by 70% due to numerous public health measures. The incidence of venereal disease, which was roughly about 17% in 1951, has now came down to 2% in 1989. Diseases like malaria and small pox has been eradicated. The Tuberculosis control programme has been a great success. People have taken a keen interest in the family planning programme. One of its interesting feature is that women have outnumbered men in its acceptance. [1]

Malaria Mosquito-borne infectious disease

Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases it can cause yellow skin, seizures, coma, or death. Symptoms usually begin ten to fifteen days after being bitten by an infected mosquito. If not properly treated, people may have recurrences of the disease months later. In those who have recently survived an infection, reinfection usually causes milder symptoms. This partial resistance disappears over months to years if the person has no continuing exposure to malaria.

Tuberculosis Infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections do not have symptoms, in which case it is known as latent tuberculosis. About 10% of latent infections progress to active disease which, if left untreated, kills about half of those affected. The classic symptoms of active TB are a chronic cough with blood-containing mucus, fever, night sweats, and weight loss. It was historically called "consumption" due to the weight loss. Infection of other organs can cause a wide range of symptoms.

Family planning planning of when to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans

Family planning services are defined as "educational, comprehensive medical or social activities which enable individuals, including minors, to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved". Family planning may involve consideration of the number of children a woman wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, as well as the age at which she wishes to have them. These matters are influenced by external factors such as marital situation, career considerations, financial position, and any disabilities that may affect their ability to have children and raise them. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction.

Education

In 1948 the state had only 200 educational institutions, out of which most of them were primary schools. In 1989 the state had 9,112 educational institutions including 38 colleges, 932 high secondary and high schools, 1,068 middle schools and 7,074 primary schools. The enrollment in these institutions was nearly 1,122,000 or about 26% of the entire state. The literacy percentage which was just 6.7% in 1951 and 31.32% in 1971, raised to 42.48% in 1989 and in 1991 it further reached to 63.54%. Himachal got its first university in 1971. Then 2 more universities, one for agriculture and the other for horticulture and forestry were established at Palampur and Solan, respectively.

An educational institution is a place where people of different ages gain an education. Examples of some institutions are preschools, primary schools, secondary schools, and further and higher education. They provide a large variety of learning environments and learning spaces. The institution can be public, private or unconventional.

Primary school School in which children receive primary or elementary education from the age of about five to twelve

A primary school is a school for children from about four to eleven years old, in which they receive primary or elementary education. It can refer to both the physical structure (buildings) and the organisation. Typically it comes after preschool, and before secondary school.

College educational institution

A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering vocational education or a secondary school.

Water supply

Drinking water supply poses a major problem in the state. Because of high altitude terrain and undulating topography drinking water is mainly obtained from streams. The pollution, lack of sanitation and open air defecation, leads to contamination of surface water. Water pollutants create a wide variety of problems by entering into the food chain. Over-exploitation of natural resources and dumping of hazardous wastes further aggravates the problem. Being unhygienic, it results to pollution and can spread diseases like hill dysentery. Since villages are sparsely populated and distantly located, the arrangement of drinking water leads to the problem of high costs. In 1948, except 4 towns, no other habitation in the state had piped water supply. By 1989, drinking water through pipes was made available in about 15,000 villages covering about 75% of the state population. Now alternate sources -underground water has been tapped through handpumps. Under ARWSP, the following norms are being adopted for providing drinking water to rural population in the habitations : 40 litres per capita per day of safe drinking water for human beings. 30 litres per capita per day additional for cattle in the desert development programme areas. One hand pump or stand post for every 250 persons. The water source should exist within 1.6 km in the plains and within 100 metres elevation in the hilly areas. [Water is defined as safe if it is free from biological contamination (cholera, typhoid, etc.) and chemical contamination (excess arsenic, fluoride, salinity, iron, nitrates, etc.)] Habitations which have a safe drinking water source point (either private or public) within 1.6 km in plains and 100 metre in hill areas but the capacity of the system ranges between 10 lpcd to 40 lpcd, are categorized as partially covered and those having less than 10 litres per capita per day are categorized as not covered.

Drinking water water safe for consumption

Drinking water, also known as potable water, is water that is safe to drink or to use for food preparation. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, age, health-related issues, and environmental conditions. Americans, on average, drink one litre of water per day and 95% drink less than three litres per day. For those who work in a hot climate, up to 16 litres a day may be required. Liquid water, along with air pressure, nutrients, and solar energy, is essential for life.

Stream A body of surface water flowing down a channel

A stream is a body of water with surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. The stream encompasses surface and groundwater fluxes that respond to geological, geomorphological, hydrological and biotic controls.

Water supply Provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations or others

Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Irrigation is covered separately.

All the 16807 census villages have been provided with drinking water facilities. An ambitious project, under the Bharat Nirman Yojna, more than 40107 habitations are fully covered March 2006 and remaining 5260 partially covered habitations to be provided drinking water facility by March 2007.

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Developing country Nation with a low living standard relative to other countries

A developing country is a country with a less developed industrial base and a low Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreement on which countries fit this category. A nation's GDP per capita compared with other nations can also be a reference point.In general, the United Nations accepts any county's claim of itself being "developing".

Sanitation public health conditions related to clean drinking water and adequate disposal of human excreta and sewage

Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and adequate treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the transmission of disease, especially through the fecal–oral route. For example, diarrhea, a main cause of malnutrition and stunted growth in children, can be reduced through sanitation. There are many other diseases which are easily transmitted in communities that have low levels of sanitation, such as ascariasis, cholera, hepatitis, polio, schistosomiasis, trachoma, to name just a few.

India's population, as per census 2011 stood at 1.21 billion. There are great inequalities in health between states. The infant mortality in Kerala is 6 per thousand live births, but in Uttar Pradesh it is 64.

Munisport landfill in Florida

Munisport Landfill is a closed landfill located in North Miami, Florida adjacent to a low-income community, a regional campus of Florida International University, Oleta River State Park, and estuarine Biscayne Bay.

Arsenic contamination of groundwater

Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a form of groundwater pollution which is often due to naturally occurring high concentrations of arsenic in deeper levels of groundwater. It is a high-profile problem due to the use of deep tubewells for water supply in the Ganges Delta, causing serious arsenic poisoning to large numbers of people. A 2007 study found that over 137 million people in more than 70 countries are probably affected by arsenic poisoning of drinking water. The problem became serious health concern after mass poisoning of water in Bangladesh. Arsenic contamination of ground water is found in many countries throughout the world, including the US.

Chapra, Nadia (community development block) Community development block in West Bengal, India

Chapra is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Krishnanagar Sadar subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Environmental issues in India

There are many environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. Nature is also causing some drastic effects on India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collection and environment assessment studies of World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made some of the fastest progress in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality in the world. Still, India has a long way to go to reach environmental quality similar to those enjoyed in developed economies. Pollution remains a major challenge and opportunity for India.

Camelford water pollution incident

The Camelford water pollution incident involved the accidental contamination of the drinking water supply to the town of Camelford, Cornwall, in July 1988. Twenty tonnes of aluminium sulphate was inadvertently added to the water supply, raising the concentration to 3,000 times the admissible level. As the aluminium sulphate broke down it produced several tonnes of sulphuric acid which "stripped a cocktail of chemicals from the pipe networks as well as lead and copper piping in people’s homes." Many people who came into contact with the contaminated water experienced a range of short-term health effects, and many victims suffered long-term effects whose implications remained unclear as of 2012. There has been no rigorous examination or monitoring of the health of the victims since the incident, which is Britain's worst mass poisoning event. Inquests on people who died many years later found very high levels of aluminium in the brain. Dame Barbara Clayton led a Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution enquiry into the incident.

The water resources of Palestine are fully controlled by Israel and the division of groundwater is subject to provisions in the Oslo II Accord.

Veterinary public health (VPH) is a component of public health that focuses on the application of veterinary science to protect and improve the physical, mental and social well-being of humans. In several countries activities related to VPH are organized by the chief veterinary officer.

Pollution in Canada

Pollution is an environmental issue in Canada. It has posed health risks to the Canadian population and is an area of concern for Canadian lawmakers. Air, water and soil pollution as well as the health effects associated with these three types of pollution, are prominent points of contention in modern Canadian society.

Chakdaha (community development block) Community development block in West Bengal, India

Chakdaha is a community development block that forms an administrative division in Kalyani subdivision of Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal.

Water supply and sanitation in Iraq is characterized by poor water and service quality. Three decades of war, combined with limited environmental awareness, have destroyed Iraq's water resources management system. Thus, Iraq faces difficulties to realize the target of 91% of households using safe drinking water supply by 2015. Currently, 16% of households report daily problems with supply and 20% use an unsafe drinking water source. Furthermore, animal waste and septic tanks pollute the drinking water network.(11)

Water issues in developing countries include scarcity of drinking-water, poor infrastructure for water access, floods and droughts, and the contamination of rivers and large dams. Over one billion people in developing countries have inadequate access to clean water. Millions of women spend hours everyday collecting water, 2.6 billion people lack access to sanitation, and 1.8 million children die each year from diarrhea. Barriers to addressing water problems in developing nations include poverty, education, climate change, and poor governance.

Groundwater pollution pollution that occurs when when pollutants are released to the ground and seep down into groundwater

Groundwater pollution occurs when pollutants are released to the ground and make their way down into groundwater. This type of water pollution can also occur naturally due to the presence of a minor and unwanted constituent, contaminant or impurity in the groundwater, in which case it is more likely referred to as contamination rather than pollution.

Water in Arkansas is an important issue encompassing the conservation, protection, management, distribution and use of the water resource in the state. Arkansas contains a mixture of groundwater and surface water, with a variety of state and federal agencies responsible for the regulation of the water resource. In accordance with agency rules, state, and federal law, the state's water treatment facilities utilize engineering, chemistry, science and technology to treat raw water from the environment to potable water standards and distribute it through water mains to homes, farms, business and industrial customers. Following use, wastewater is collected in collection and conveyance systems, decentralized sewer systems or septic tanks and treated in accordance with regulations at publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) before being discharged to the environment.

Water crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo water crisis

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Repalle Municipality

Repalle Municipality is the local self-government in Repalle of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is classified as a second grade municipality.

Water contamination in Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama

Water contamination in Lawrence and Morgan Counties, Alabama, revolves around the presence of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the water supply. After the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new health advisories in March 2016, there was concern over health risks of the levels of PFOA and PFOS present. The responses of different government officials, agencies, and companies raise questions as to whether or not there was any environmental injustice involved.

References

http://ddws.gov.in/habquery/main_menu.asp http://mohfw.nic.in/NRHM/State%20Files/hp.htm#hp

  1. Webindia123.com

See also