ZIMBABWE INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT COVER

1. DELEGATE’S NAME: LLOYD PANGANI MUNKOMBWE

2. COURSE: DIPLOMA LEVEL 1 SAFETY, HEALTH & ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

3. GROUP: 1

4. MODULE: PUBLIC HEALTH

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5. DATES: 03 JANUARY 2022 – 06 JANUARY 2022

6. DELEGATE CONTACT DETAILS: 071 755 2551 / 078 296 8957

ADDRESS: 6824 WESTLEA HARARE

TELEPHONE …………………………………………………..…………..…

7. PRESENTER ………………………………………………..…

8. TITLE OF ASSIGNMENT HANDED IN:

…………… PUBLIC HEALTH………………………………………………………………………………

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

9. DATE DUE: 24 NOVEMBER A will be levied for late submissions

10. MARK AWARDED ……………………………………

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

 ASSIGNMENT MARK SHEET

SECTION COMMENT HPS AWARDED

INTRODUCTION
Organization 10
Assignment:
Purpose
Value

LAYOUT AND
PRESENTATION
Table of contents
Sequencing clarity
Group, Paragraph and 25
sub -
Paragraph
Headings
Conclusion
Recommendation
s
Acknowledge source
Graphs/Diagram

TECHNICAL
KNOWLEDGE 40
Analysis, Models
Findings, opinions
Depth and knowledge.
Theories etc.

GENERAL
Creative input 25
Original work related
examples
Theoretical

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

CONTENTS PAGE

Contents
ASSIGNMENT COVER.........................................................................................................................1
ASSIGNMENT MARK SHEET...............................................................................................................2
CONTENTS PAGE................................................................................................................................3
QUESTION 1.......................................................................................................................................4
QUESTION 2.......................................................................................................................................5
QUESTION 3.......................................................................................................................................5
QUESTION 4.......................................................................................................................................6
QUESTION 5.......................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES.......................................................................................................................................9

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

QUESTION 1
1. Define Public Health and explain its elements

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health on people and their communities.
This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and
detecting, preventing and responding to infectious diseases. Overall, public health is concerned with
protecting the health of entire populations. These populations can be as small as a local neighborhood,
or as big as an entire country or region of the world

Elements of Public Health

Biostatistics
This is the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis and interpretation of health data; design and analysis
of health-related surveys and experiments; and concepts and practice of statistical data analysis.

Environmental Health Science

Environmental factors include biological, physical and chemical factors that affect the health of a
community.

Epidemiology
distributions and determinants of disease, disabilities and death in human populations; the
characteristics and dynamics of human populations; and the natural history of disease and the
biological basis of health.

Health Service Administration or Health Policy Management

Planning, organization, administration, management, evaluation and policy analysis of health and
public health programs (includes policy making, public health law)

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Concepts and methods of social and behavioral sciences relevant to the identification and solution of
public health problems.

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

QUESTION 2
2. Describe the legal aspects of Public Health and highlight the hierarchy.

Public Health Act [15.09] creates the legal framework for the protection of public health in Zimbabwe
for this purpose provides for powers of the administration to regulate and control the slaughter of
animals, food production and handling, food and water supply, animal diseases, etc.

The Minister may, for purposes of this Act establish an Advisory Board for Public Health under section
4. The Minister of Health and Child Welfare shall be the principal Government officer responsible for
public health. The Secretary of the Ministry of Health shall act as ex officio as Chief Health Officer.
Section 38 provides for the duty to notify diseases affecting animals. The supply of sufficient
wholesome water shall be the duty of local authorities (sect. 64). Sections 69,70, and 71 provide for
regulation-making powers of the Minister with respect to food safety and hygiene, whereas section 74
provides for regulation-making powers of the Minister with respect to child nutrition. Section 76
concerns licensing of slaughterhouses by local authorities.

Environmental Management Act [20:27], This is an Act to provide for the sustainable management
of natural resources and protection of the environment; the prevention of pollution and environmental
degradation; the preparation of a National Environmental Plan and other plans for the management and
protection of the environment; the establishment of an Environmental Management Agency and an
Environment Fund; to amend references to intensive conservation areas and committees and associated
matters in various Acts

QUESTION 3
3. Describe the causes, occurrence, signs and symptoms and intervention for any sanitation
related diseases of your choice.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal illness caused by infection of the intestine with Vibrio cholerae bacteria.
People can get sick when they swallow food or water contaminated with cholera bacteria. The infection
is often mild or without symptoms, but can sometimes be severe and life-threatening.

People with cholera will experience severe symptoms, which, in the early stages, include:
 profuse watery diarrhoea, sometimes described as “rice-water stools”
 vomiting
 thirst
 leg cramps
 restlessness or irritability
Health care providers look for signs of dehydration when examining a patient with profuse watery
diarrhea. These include:
 rapid heart rate
 loss of skin elasticity
 dry mucous membranes
 low blood pressure

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

The long-term solution for cholera control lies in economic development and universal access to safe
drinking water and adequate sanitation. Actions targeting environmental conditions include the
implementation of adapted long-term sustainable WASH solutions to ensure use of safe water, basic
sanitation and good hygiene practices in cholera hotspots.  In addition to cholera, such interventions
prevent a wide range of other water-borne illnesses, as well as contributing to achieving goals related to
poverty, malnutrition, and education.  The WASH solutions for cholera are aligned with those of the
Sustainable Development Goals 

Cholera Treatment and Prevention

There is a vaccine for cholera. Both the CDC and the World Health Organization have specific
guidelines for who should be given this vaccine. You can protect yourself and your family by using
only water that has been boiled, water that has been chemically disinfected, or bottled water. Be sure to
use bottled, boiled, or chemically disinfected water for the following purposes
 Drinking
 Preparing food or drinks
 Making ice
 Brushing your teeth
 Washing your face and hands
 Washing dishes and utensils that you use to eat or prepare food
 Washing fruits and vegetables

QUESTION 4
4. Describe the link between Health, Education and poverty.

Poverty in Zimbabwe is a worldwide life-changing issue with limited solutions to its various problems.
Millions are born into this endless cycle with no hope for it to change, so many do not get a chance to
prove their capabilities, and they have no choice but to continue on with living their lives. Poverty in
Zimbabwe increases the desperation of people as they struggle to survive, so they often cannot address
the effects of poverty. Poverty in Zimbabwe mainly affects or is experienced in the areas of health,
education and society, and therefore are unable to escape the situation. Poverty has a great amount of
impact on an individual’s mental and as well as physical health, In poverty, parents’ efforts to make
sure that their children reach their full potential decrease due to stress and various troubles.

Although one needs education to escape poverty, many do not even receive the basic education because
of it, especially in rural areas where sometimes there is 1 school per 50 km radius and teachers are very
few and often inexperienced. So several generations get stuck in this never ending cycle unless
someone beats the odds and somehow changes their lives and by doing so also the lives of the next
generation. “Growing up poor, for the women in our study, often had negative effects on long-term
economic outcomes, and there is every reason to suppose that these women 's own children will suffer
similar negative effects” (Vartanian and McNamara). Many of the children work from a very young
age to help their parents financially, in turn those children who have great potential but lack education,
which prevents them from changing their lives. Besides Zimbabwe many countries fail to provide free
education to children so they get one more step away from escaping poverty

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

According to a research, “One point of view, sometimes called ‘the culture of poverty theory,’ holds
that within poor communities for example ‘Mapostori’ have certain cultural attitudes that discourage
economic success are passed from one generation to the next. These attitudes and lack of organized
family life may arise in response to the harsh conditions of poverty whereby young girls are being
married off to rich suitors for money. Many children living in poverty do not receive much support
from their parents who would rather have their children working or taking care of younger siblings
while the parents work. Unfortunately, several of these children start their schooling at a disadvantage
and some drop out before they even have a chance to finish it.

Due to poverty parents cannot afford private hospitals because they are expensive therefore they send
their children to Government hospitals and polyclinics in which there find minimum services and care
for their children, in rural areas some cannot even afford the central hospitals so they put faith in their
churches and God and some resort to traditional medicines and traditional healers where they can pay
for their services using livestock.

QUESTION 5
5. Describe the functioning of dry and wet sanitation systems.

Dry Sanitation System

A Blair toilet or ventilated Improved Pit Latrine (VIP) is a typical example of a dry sewage disposal
system designed in Zimbabwe around the 1970s. Wind blowing over the top of the ventilation pipe
causes air in the pipe to rise. Replacement fresh air is drawn into the pit through the superstructure and
down the toilet hole. This flow of fresh air keeps the superstructure free of odors. When there is no
wind, the air in the vent pipe will continue to move upwards, if the pipe is being heated by the sun.

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

Wet Sanitation System
Waste from the toilet is flushed, using between 6 and 13 liters of water per flush, into the sewer system
for removal to a central treatment facility. A clean water seal is maintained in the toilet pan after each
flush. Domestic wastewater is also drained into the sewers. The sewer system may require pump
stations if the topography is not suitable for gravity transport of all the sewerage within the
communities. There are several types of wastewater treatment facilities that treat the wastes to a
suitable quality prior to discharge into a stream or for re-use in municipal parks and gardens.

The operation of full or conventional waterborne sewerage requires a reliable and uninterrupted
household water connection and spatially regular permanent settlements. Stringent design criteria must
be applied throughout the sewerage network to ensure the uninterrupted flow of wastes to the treatment
works. Skilled, organized and effective operation 24 and maintenance capability is required for sewers
and the full functioning of wastewater treatment facilities.

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS

REFERENCES

SANITATION TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS,

https://www.ttuhsc.edu/biomedical-sciences/public-health/core-disciplines.aspx

Public Health Act (Chapter 15:09)

https://www.cdc.gov/cholera/illness.html#:~:text=Cholera%20is%20an%20acute%20diarrheal,be
%20severe%20and%20life%2Dthreatening.

https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cholera

https://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/cholera-faq

https://www.healthpovertyaction.org/news-events/key-facts-poverty-and-poor-health/
#:~:text=Overcrowded%20and%20poor%20living%20conditions,sanitation%20can%20also%20be
%20fatal.

KNOWING THE REASON FOR DOING THINGS