Cholera epidemic multiplying despite intense efforts
Pastor Dale Morgan
Cholera epidemic multiplying despite intense efforts*
20 Aug 2007 19:29:18 GMT
Source: IRIN
CONAKRY, 20 August 2007 (IRIN) - Almost 1,800 people have been affected
by a cholera outbreak in Guinea which has caused 67 deaths, according to
the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in
Conakry.
In the same period last year, just 30 cases of cholera were reported,
resulting in zero deaths, according to OCHA.
"The epidemic is quite serious this year, but the government and
humanitarian partners are doing everything they can to treat cases and
prevent the spread of the disease in Guinea," Madeleine Maka Kaba, OCHA
spokesperson told IRIN.
The seafront capital Conakry where 2 million people live, many of them
packed close together in squalid slums without running water or
sanitation, is being hit hardest. 370 of the cases and 18 deaths have
been recorded there.
Cholera is caused by a bacteria contracted by eating food or drinking
water contaminated by the faeces of an infected person. The disease is
most common in countries facing inadequate sanitation, overcrowding and
lack of access to clean water. It is preventable with a course of
vaccines, and infected people can be treated but if left uncared for
will die.
The epidemic is also hitting hard in other towns and cities around the
country, many of which have had neither piped water, sanitation or
electricity for several years.
In Kindia, 135km east from Conakry, 46 cases and six deaths have been
reported since Saturday when a woman infected with the disease travelled
there from Conakry, according to the Ministry of Health.
Agencies working to prevent the spread of cholera in Guinea include the
Guinean Ministry of Health, OCHA, the World Health Organisation (WHO),
the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Medecins sans
Frontieres, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and local organisations.
In Conakry, three cholera treatment centres have been set up by the
Ministry of Health with help from UNICEF and MSF, according to Sergio
Martin Esteso, who supervises the centres for MSF. "The Donka centre,
the biggest treatment centre in Conakry, has seen 115 cases since 18
August," Esteso said.
UNICEF is currently working with the local Conakry government, ICRC and
the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Conakry to distribute
17,000 bottles of 'Sur Eau,' a water treatment product for use in
individual households, to sections of the city most affected by the
outbreak. UNICEF has made the doxycycline antibiotic available to the
Ministry of Health as well as one tonne of disinfectant.
The Guinean government has also spearheaded a communication campaign in
partnership with UNICEF and the Red Cross, spreading messages via
national and rural community radio concerning the prevention and
treatment of cholera.
At least 15 public and private radio stations are carrying messages in
local languages urging the population to take extra care during the
cholera season.
"This campaign is carried every year during the cholera season, however
this year efforts are more intense and focused," OCHA's Kaba told IRIN.
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