Angola faces health crisis as oil prices fall

Angola is struggling to navigate harsh economic times due to low oil prices.

The economic deficit has pushed Africa’s second largest oil producer to cut its budget spending by over 40 percent lower than two years ago.

With the falling oil prices internationally, Angola’s government has also splashed public spending since last year.

Many traders like Antonio Simao Baptista have been amazed with the piled up trash in the rundown suburb with diseases on the rise.

The sprawling city, home to 6.5 million, has become an open-air dumping site. Luanda has for years been a chaotic urban mess with high living standards and deteriorated sanitation.

Kyala Junior, a Luanda resident attests to this mess that has further been stirred by rains.

“We have this level of garbage that is so high here and then we have also been hit by rains and we have the overflowing waste accumulated here, bringing flies, other insects and parasites,” he said

There have been reported cases of malaria, and water borne diseases due to the garbage pollution in the country.

Luanda has for years been a chaotic urban mess with high living standards and deteriorated sanitation.

The sprawling city, home to 6.5 million has become an open-air dumping site.

Recently, the country also faced a yellow fever outbreak that claimed over 50 lives.