People should be given opportunities to increase control over their health and to improve their lifestyles. Community health promotion involves the application of a wide variety of environmental and social interventions in order to assist people in a particular community (Sharma, 2016). Community health promotions are mainly carried out to positively impact the health behavior of a community as well as to improve their working and living condition. Other than enhancing the people’s quality of life, health promotions reduce the costs that persons in a particular community would spend on medical bills (Sharma, 2016). This goes a long way in ensuring that premature deaths are reduced. This paper explores the living conditions of the migrant community in Sonapur, a working camp for Indian workers located in the outskirts of Dubai.
Demographics According to the estimates made by the United Nations in 2013, the UAE has a migrant population of 7.7 million out of the total population of 9.2 million people (Kapiszewski, 2017). The United Arab Emirates has a majority of its expatriates living in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The largest expatriate group consists of the Indians. It is estimated that over 2 million Indians currently reside in the UAE (Kapiszewski, 2017). This figure is over 27% of the total number of people in the UAE. UAE is considered to be a land of job opportunities. Most of the Indians migrate into the UAE due to the opportunities that are there in the oil and finance sector. Some Indian workers migrate to seek jobs in the hospitality and construction industries. The Indians working in the construction and industries as laborers are low-income earners. In Dubai, these Indian workers are subjected to poor working conditions and low living standards. The workers, therefore, sort to adopt their own survival techniques so that they earn higher wages to outweigh the varieties of challenges they face. Socioeconomic status of people in the community. The Sonapur labor camp has slum-like conditions and is a home for 149, 000 workers. The workers residing in the camp are not protected. The average income for a laborer residing in the camp ranges from 700 AED to 1000 AED a month (Kapiszewski 2017). This is equivalent to $200 to $300 a month. Out of the total income, the worker is expected to send a certain amount of money to his family back at home. The worker, therefore, remains with the little amount of income and that is what he is expected to survive on. The workers are expected to work for 12-hour shifts daily in the scorching sun. The working conditions of the laborers from the camp are extremely pathetic. Five to seven double-decker beds occupy one tiny room in Sonapur. This means that 10 to 14 people occupy one room. As much as the recruitment agency claim to be in charge of the food provisions for the immigrants, the food that is in the camp is not actually for free. Out of the 700 AED that is paid to the workers, the recruiting company deducts 250 AED every month from every worker. The money is meant to buy the workers food but most of the time the food is unpalatable. The workers are also required to pay for their monthly hospital insurance bills. The workers from the camp also claim that their employers give them false promises of salary increment (Kapiszewski, 2017). They are also subjected to the ‘KAFALA’ system, which is a sponsorship system where every employer or company in the United Arab Emirates is given permission to make workers be dependent on them for food. The harsh economic situations make some of the workers to wish to go back to their nations. Sadly, some of the workers lack their passports as they are confiscated by the recruiting agencies.
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Environmental hazards faced by the community. The Indians living in Sonapur lack formal education, therefore, they mostly work in construction sites. Their employers require them to work under the scorching heat for 12 hours daily. The temperature rises to over 51 o C during the summer. Some workers, therefore, experience sunburns damages due to overexposure to sunlight. The workers also end up with wrinkles and sagging skins as the Ultra violet rays destroy their skin cells. Some of the workers who work in the construction sites for long duration also end up with skin cancer due to their prolonged exposure to too much heat. The temperatures during the day in the city are extremely high and at times, the workers suffer heat stroke and exhaustion (Kapiszewski, 2017). The workers also experience constant dehydration as more water moves out of their bodies as compared to the amount they take in through drinking. The workers have huge kitchens used to prepare their food. These kitchens are very dirty due to poor maintenance. This places the workers’ health at risk as they can easily acquire food or waterborne diseases. The gas supplies built for the kitchen by the laborers are not subjected to safety laws. These gas supplies could leak any time and cause serious damage in case they explode. The camp has its environment littered with garbage. The toilets in the camp are of low standards and are dirty (Kapiszewski, 2017). The residence is also subjected to dusty conditions in their workplaces. This is because the city is normally swept by dust storms and this affects the laborers. The workers end up experiencing breathing problems.
Migrant workers access to healthcare.
The employers do not prioritize the medical care for the migrant workers. The workers are made to work for long hours despite their health conditions and sometimes denied medical treatment. The employers also refuse to organize for medical treatment for their workers when they suffer illness and get injured. This denial of medical assistance is a violation of the rule of medical impartiality (Sharma, 2016). Medical impartiality demands that patient's access to healthcare should not be interfered with. It estimated that over 2.3 million migrant workers, majority Indians, are vulnerable to exploitations. The migrant workers are ruled by the KAFALA sponsors. They, therefore, work under the sponsorship of the single employer " kafeel ”. The "kafeel" ensures that the workers are regularly screened for tuberculosis, pregnancy, and HIV. The "kafeel" also purchases health insurance for Indian workers (Sharma, 2016). This, therefore, shows that the employer mostly determines the migrant workers access to healthcare. Some employers ignore the conditions of their workers. One worker, Patel, who resides in Sonapur labor camp developed irritation on his hands due to the frequent use of detergents (Sharma, 2016). He complained to his employer about his conditions but was ignored. A similar case happened to Vikash who experienced painful burns to his hands while working at his employer’s construction site and was also affected by sunburns. His face was scarred and he never received treatment from the employer. Apart from being denied the necessary healthcare, the employees are subjected to work even when they are ill (Sharma, 2016). The workers are denied time off when ill. The workers who experience poor health conditions fear to report the cases as they may get dismissed.
Mortality and Morbidity Risk Factors. Health risk factors place the workers at risks of acquiring skin cancer, lower back pain, dehydration and committing suicide. The first health risk factor is the harsh weather conditions. Workers suffer risks of getting skin cancer because their employers require them to work under the scorching sun for long hours (Sharma, 2016). The temperature is recorded to be very high during the summer and this poses risks to the construction workers. The workers, therefore, experience skin cell damages due to extended periods of work under the sunlight. The skin damages by the UV lights make some of the workers to suffer from skin cancer. Skin cancer leads to the demise of the migrant workers after a duration of time.
The second health risk factor is lack of proper hygiene and inadequate water supply. The workers in Sonapur experience dehydration as they are constantly attacked diarrhea due to the poor sanitation. The poor condition also leads to trachoma that adversely affect the workers. Due to overcrowding, there is poor waste disposal in the camp. There is also an inadequate water supply in the camp. The workers' sort to access cheap water facilities, which are mostly contaminated. By using the contaminated water, the workers stand high chances of getting waterborne diseases. The workers also experience dehydration due to too much heat in their work areas (Kapiszewski, 2017). The high temperature makes the workers to sweat a lot during the day and this makes them lose too much water from their bodies. The third health risk hazard is bad working conditions. Some Indian workers are given too much work leading to lower back pains. Lower back pain accounts for one-fifth of the workers' compensation claim in the UAE (Kapiszewski, 2017). The Indian workers complain of lower back pains every day. The lower back pain was attributed to activities at the construction sites. The prevalence rate of back pain in Dubai is estimated to be over 21.7%. Back pain is considered as a major cause of morbidity in Dubai (Kapiszewski, 2017). The workers are forced to carry huge loads in the construction sites for long hours. This leads to serious pressure being exerted on their backs making them feel pain. The workers are also subjected to dusty working conditions. The city experiences constant sand storms and this makes the workers experience respiratory complications as they get exposed to too much dust. The fourth health risk hazard is unfavorable job terms. It is revealed that Indians from Sonapur take the extreme steps of killing themselves due to exploitations. Most of the workers are given low incomes and this makes them be depressed. The cost of living in the city is high and the workers find it hard to survive. With little income, they are expected to pay health bills, house rent and food. Their families back home also depend on them. Apart from these, some of the workers don’t have their passports as they have been confiscated by their employers and are not able to return to their nations (Kapiszewski, 2017). They, therefore, are subjected to a long duration of the working hour with little or no pay. These conditions are frustrating and some of the workers' sort to kill themselves.
Health promotion activity for each health issue. The first health activity that should be carried out is to reduce the duration of work from 12hours to 9 hours. This will ensure that the workers are less exposed to the sun rays and the dust from the sandstorms. Nightshifts should also be organized for the workers instead of working under extreme heat. There should also be a constant water supply to the camp and good hygiene standards (Sharma, 2016). The workers should organize for cleaning routines to ensure proper waste disposals and good cleaning standards. The workers should also be keen when signing the work contracts with their employers and ensure that the contracts contain good working conditions and terms of payment. The employers, on the other hand, should give the workers at least one day off every week and improve the conditions in the workplaces.
References
Kapiszewski, A. (2017). Arab versus Asian migrant workers in the GCC countries. In South Asian Migration to Gulf Countries (pp. 66-90). Routledge India.
Sharma, M. (2016). Theoretical foundations of health education and health promotion . Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
