THE IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON HEALTH.

 

AUTHOR: EEMMANUELLA KORANKYE FRIMPONG.

Overpopulation causing long queues at medical centers for medical attention.

A rising population often signifies that healthcare is successful. It indicates that the mortality rate in children is lower and there are more births and deaths in a given year. However, overwhelming population growth can strain public health, which will decrease access to necessary care for citizens and damage quality of life .The current population of Ghana is 34,777,498,453,at 1.92% based on projections of the latest United Nations data and the Components of Population Change says one birth every 35 seconds, one death every 2.2 minutes ,one emigrant every 53.33 minutes and net of one person every 48 seconds        with this, the types of population growth rate an impacts of the public health and individual healthcare organizations in terms of planning for care.

There can be dramatic increase in population in some areas due to economic reasons, access to employment and wealth. Concentrated  energy consumption  increases air pollution, which has a significant impact of  on human health and lead levels in metropolitan air are elevated due to automotive emissions. Numerous health risks, including cancer, neurological disorders, congenital malformations, etc., are caused by large amounts of uncollected garbage. The risk to human health increases with population density because airborne infections can spread more quickly. Numerous infectious diseases have emerged as a result of concerns like urban overcrowding and environmental changes brought on by population growth. Increased antibiotic resistance turns out to be an unanticipated issue for diseases like: Tuberculosis, Malaria, cholera, fever etc. We noted the rate of infection in COVID-19 in densely populated areas. It was determined that planning and strategies should include the density of the location in mitigating the spread of infection. This is just one case scenario.

In addition,Overpopulation also means more stress on infrastructure to the location. The public health sectors can become overburdened and unable to deliver optimal care. Other societal tasks may suffer, such as the ability to remove waste and provide clean water, and the ability to maintain the food supply chain. The  rising about the effects of overpopulation brought on by increase traffic on the health of those who commute by car. Children are more affected than adults by air pollution. As a result of today’s deteriorating air quality, the majority of people experience respiratory issues like: Asthma, lung cancer, throat inflammation and cardiovascular disease etc are all respiratory diseases . All these issues can impact the quality of life in a detrimental way, leading to increase health concerns for individual citizens.

Moreover resources allocation such as healthcare facilities, personnel and infrastructure must keep pace with population growth because rapid expansion can lead to shortages of hospital beds, medical supplies an skilled healthcare workers.

The reproductive health  is also in line with the number of the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs), notably SDG 3  on health and well being .

 In conclusion there are advantages and disadvantages of population growth. A growing population does indicate good overall health, at least while the population is rising.Economically,an increased population theoretically means an increased workforce and therefore  higher production. However, the health care and infrastructure of society must grow at the rate of the population to maintain health and quality of life.