ANGOLA: Cholera reappears with a vengeance
Pastor Dale Morgan
*ANGOLA: Cholera reappears with a vengeance*
08 Nov 2006 18:01:35 GMT
Source: IRIN
LUANDA, 8 November (IRIN) - Heavy rains and a continued lack of access
to clean drinking water and basic sanitation in Angola has seen the
number of people infected by cholera rise sharply in the last two weeks.
Health workers said the government was not doing enough to curb the
epidemic, which has claimed almost 2,400 lives since February and at
least 68 since 24 October.
Huila Province in the south and Uige Province in the north are the focus
of concern. "Uige and Huila are getting quite out of control," said one
source, who requested anonymity. "The provincial authorities in Uige
aren't really doing anything to combat cholera."
Angola's infrastructure, including its health system, was ruined during
a 27-year civil war that ended in 2002. Although it is sub-Saharan
Africa's second-largest oil producer after Nigeria, and is undergoing an
economic boom, most people live in dire poverty and the country still
has one of the world's highest child mortality rates.
Observers say health infrastructure spending in Angola needs to be
bolstered to provide clean water and sanitation supplies, essential to
combating the cholera epidemic.
"Sanitary conditions continue to be precarious; they continue to be well
below what we would hope for," said Jose Caetano, World Health
Organisation spokesman in the capital, Luanda.
"But longer-term financing is necessary for there to be long-term
development. Even with peace, you can't expect access to potable water
to go from 30 [percent] to 90 percent in four years," he told IRIN.
Cholera is a waterborne intestinal infection that causes severe
diarrhoea and vomiting, leading to rapid dehydration. Left untreated it
can bring death within 24 hours but the World Health Organisation (WHO)
describes it as "an easily treatable disease" cured with rehydration
salts to replace lost fluids.
Despite this, and a series of measures put in place ahead of the annual
rains from September to May, a total of 1,506 new cases have been
reported across Angola since 24 October, with the exception of Huambo,
Moxico and Lunda Sul provinces, which have reported no presence of cholera.
IRIN was unable to reach government officials for comment. Health
workers are fearful that the number of people affected by the disease is
likely to keep rising during the rainy season.
"Every day, more than 100 new cases are reported," said Erna Van Goor,
general coordinator of medical relief agency Medecins Sans
Frontieres-Holland in Luanda.
"Because the rains have really started in the provinces [outside Luanda
Province], it is worse there," she added. "Luanda is lagging behind for
now, but when the rains really start to come, cholera will increase here
too."
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