Naguru has very limited access to clean and safe drinking water, with all water fetched from nearby springs or communal taps. Between houses are open muddy channels where waste water is flowing, rubbish is often discarded, and mosquitoes and rats live and breed. There is also no effective sewerage system meaning that every time when there are heavy rains, sewage flows through the streets of the slum.
Poor sanitation, drainage systems and management of rubbish leads to frequent outbreaks of typhoid and cholera, adding to the already high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, other STIs, malaria, malnutrition and tuberculosis. As health care is expensive and often inadequate, simple medical conditions often go untreated and residents often only seek medical help for the most serious health problems.