Q.2. what are the affects of poverty?

It goes without saying that significant world problems like poverty have tragic affects. Poverty is the type of issue that does so much damage and in so many different areas. There’s a long list of the affects poverty can have on a person and each person might react differently but these are the common affects poverty has on everybody living in poverty. Lack of opportunity, disease and despair are probably the most significant topics in the affects of poverty and what you can categorize all the other problems in. There’s a link between poverty and diseases and then there’s poverty related diseases. For example, rapid spread of diseases, over crowding and poor sanitation are examples of causes of diseases but they could also be influenced by poverty. Then things like diarrhea, malaria, and cholera are all very common diseases found in people living in poverty, but people not living in poverty could possibly suffer from these too but it’s just not as common. According to Rothberg (n.d) “But the no other continent has been so beset by HIV/AIDS (30% of all adults in Southern Africa),by tuberculosis, by malaria (prevalent almost everywhere), and by less well-known scourges such as schistosomiasis (liver fluke), several kinds of filariasis, river blindness, trachoma, and trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness).” (p.2). So not all theses diseases and affects of poverty are just caused by poverty but are extremely common in people who live/lived in poverty. 

Firstly, there’s the physical health issues that come with living in poverty. Such as, malnutrition, malnutrition is a result of eating a poor diet in which you are getting too much or too little of 1 or more nutrients. Obviously in a poverty aspect it’s more common to get too little of the necessary nutrients. This can cause people to be severely under weight, have a very low height for the age, and be extremely weak, sick, and so much more. There’s also a lot of health problems caused by the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This became very common in African countries especially poverty impacted ones. Plus, this decreased  in life expectancy in poverty filled countries, especially the ones suffering through the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The average life expediency of someone living in Sub- Saharan Africa is 46, this is because of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. According to UNDP, “a person can hope to live on average only 46 years, or 32 years less than the average life expectancy in countries of advanced human development, with 20 years slashed off of life expectancy due to HIV/AIDS.” HIV/AIDS is the #1 killer in the Sub- Saharan. An estimated number of 2 million people die every year in Africa, 70% of them being in Sub- Saharan Africa because of the HIV/AIDS disease. Overall there’s a lot of physical health issues caused by poverty because of the lack of basic needs and the easy spread of diseases. 

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Secondly, there’s the mental and psychological consequences of living in poverty. Such as, a decrease in brain development. A lot of people living in severe poverty like most of our people in the Sub-Saharan they lack a lot of basic knowledge needed to succeed in life, like the ability to read or write. ( there's more in depth information in question 4, 'how does poverty impact the development of children.'

Lastly, there’s the cause. The things that may be causing theses health issues and psychological issues. Many countries in poverty in the Sub-Saharan are unable to provide the basic necessities needed in life. Such as, sanitation/healthcare, clean water, and education. A lack of sanitation can also mean a lack of proper health care. So not a lot of hospitals, nurses, doctors, and or medical equipment. This can cause a wide spread of diseases and infections. Plus, an increase in death. Having a lack of clean water can cause illness and dehydration. This could also mean that there’s not enough water in general. Which means there’s not a lot of water to water crops with or bath with or was clothes in. Even if there was enough water it’s still dirty so that dirty water is now contaminating everything else which only makes people sicker. Then there’s the lack of education. This weakness the mental capability of people living in poverty, which in then only makes it harder for them to leave poverty. It’s extremely hard for people to solve a problem if they don’t understand the question being asked. Especially if the problem is all they know it to be. 

So, as you could see there’s many different affects of living in poverty. They all kind of go hand in hand with each other, which in the end only makes the problem worse. However, even though these are the affects of living in poverty, everyday people can face these too. But, unlike the people living in sever poverty, “everyday” people have access to help and the opportunity to better them selves. Also, it’s not as dangerous. Everything has levels and poverty in Sub- Saharan Africa is one of the most extreme levels. 

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Hopefully, by answering this question it can help people picture just how serious this issue is. Which will then help us understand why we are asking our question of, “why are millions of people living in poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Which will later help us in answering that question, because in order to solve any problem you must first understand it.