The human race is growing exponentially. Experts expect the global population to reach 8 billion by the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023 and may top 10 billion by 2050. Where there are large populations of people, there are risks. Diseases directly related to exposure to human waste are dangerous and can even be deadly, but with proper wastewater treatment and management, can be avoided. This risk can occur in the developed world but it is most common in developing countries without advanced wastewater management systems.
What technologies exist currently for disease control and prevention in developing countries, and what new technologies are on the horizon?
Overcoming Inadequate Sanitation
One of the biggest challenges when it comes to disease control and prevention in developing countries is the problem of inadequate sanitation. 4.2 billion people more than half of the current population of the world lack access to basic and safe sanitation. That can lead to the creation of upwards of 14 billion liters of contaminated water wastewater every single day.
This wastewater is often directly responsible for the spread of diseases like cholera and typhoid fever and is often indirectly responsible for the spread of vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue fever because they are transmitted by mosquitoes that grow in standing water.
Technologies are beginning to emerge that can turn wastewater into safe drinkable water which could work to overcome the risks presented by inadequate sanitation while also working to manage the growing risk of water shortages that are putting large populations at risk for dehydration.
Preventing Malaria by Managing Mosquitoes
Malaria infects more than 240 million every year, resulting in more than 627,000 deaths. Other diseases, like West Nile, Zika, and others can all be spread in the bite of a single insect. These diseases are carried by mosquitoes, which breed in standing water. While it isn’t a foolproof method to prevent the spread of malaria in developing countries, reducing the mosquito population can help to keep these insects from spreading this deadly disease.
In 2021, a new technology using CRISPR emerged as a potential tool for managing mosquito populations. Precision-guided sterile insect technique (pgSIT) uses gene-editing technology to create sterile males of Aedes aegypti, the most common type of disease-transmitting mosquito. The female mosquitoes are the only ones that bite, but they still rely on the males to propagate the population. By introducing sterile males into the population, those females end up laying unfertilized eggs that have no chance of becoming adult mosquitoes that could continue to spread disease.
Coping with the Risk of Climate Change
Climate change is a growing threat, but it impacts more than just the temperature of the planet. Water shortages and droughts will grow more severe, and on the other side of the coin, floods and dangerous weather will become more frequent. These conditions, especially in developing countries, will make water purification and sanitation more important than ever. A severe flood can wash sewage into the waterways that might be used for drinking or irrigation.
Flooding can also create pools of standing water that can foster mosquito populations. The challenge here is two-fold. First, it is essential to take global steps to reduce the impact of climate change, including reducing the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere and taking steps to reach a net–zero carbon future. The other piece of this puzzle is to create waste treatment facilities that cannot be breached by severe weather. This is difficult in developing countries that don’t have an established wastewater treatment infrastructure.
Looking Toward the Future
The biggest challenge when it comes to preventing and controlling diseases in developing countries is directly related to managing waste and preventing people from coming into direct contact with human waste. In developing countries, many of which may be lacking basic sanitation technologies, this may seem like an insurmountable task. It is a challenge, but if we hope to prevent and control diseases in these countries, it is one that we will have to achieve.
